Mechanically assisted phased array for extended scan limits

ABSTRACT

A radar apparatus with a transmission antenna array that outputs a high aspect ratio frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) transmission beam that illuminates a large field of regard in elevation and may be both electronically and mechanically scanned in azimuth. The weather radar apparatus includes a receive array and receive electronics that may receive the reflected return radar signals and digitally form a plurality of receive beams that may be used to determine characteristics of the area in the field of regard. The receive beams may be used to determine reflectivity of weather systems and provide a coherent weather picture. The weather radar apparatus may simultaneously process the receive signals into monopulse beams that may be used for accurate navigation as well as collision avoidance.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/691,453, which was filed on Aug. 30, 2017, and is entitled,“MECHANICALLY ASSISTED PHASED ARRAY FOR EXTENDED SCAN LIMITS.” Theentire content of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/691,453 isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to phased array radar systems.

BACKGROUND

Radar systems may be used by aircraft, ground installations or othervehicles to detect weather, aircraft or other objects in the surroundingspace. In smaller aircraft, such as some unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs), weight and power requirements may constrain the design of theradar system or preclude the use of a radar system altogether. Someweather radars use mechanically or electronically scanned radartransmission pencil beams in a systematic process of progressivelycovering an area, such as by raster scan.

SUMMARY

In general, this disclosure is directed to a radar apparatus with atransmission antenna array that outputs a high aspect ratio frequencymodulation continuous wave (FMCW) transmission beam that illuminates alarge field of regard in elevation and may be electronically andmechanically scanned in azimuth. The weather radar apparatus includes areceive array and receive electronics that may receive the reflectedreturn radar signals and electronically form a plurality of receivebeams that may be used to determine characteristics of the area in thefield of regard. The receive beams may be used to determine reflectivityof weather systems and provide a coherent weather picture. The weatherradar apparatus may simultaneously process the receive signals intomonopulse beams that may be used for accurate navigation as well asdetection and tracking of objects, such as birds, aircraft, unmannedaerial vehicles and the like.

The weather radar apparatus may be mounted on a vehicle, such as anaircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and other similar vehicles. Theweather radar apparatus may include one or more FMCW radar devices thateach include a transmission array, transmission electronics, a receivearray, receive electronics and signal processing circuitry supported bya gimbaled mount. The gimbaled mount mechanically scans the one or moreradar devices to extend the electronic scan angle.

In one example, the disclosure is directed to . . . this section to befilled in by attorney after initial inventor review.

The details of one or more examples of the disclosure are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an isometric view of an FMCW radarapparatus according to one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a top view of an FMCW radar apparatusaccording to one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a top view depiction of an aircraft, which includes a radarapparatus that outputs an FMCW transmit beam that illuminates an area ina first illumination direction and scans the FMCW transmit beam in asecond illumination direction.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the electronically scanned angularrange and the mechanically scanned angular range of a radar apparatus inaccordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-function, electronicallyand mechanically steered weather radar installed in an aircraft, inaccordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example transmit beam and aplurality of example receive beams.

FIGS. 7A and 7B depict a top view and isometric view respectively of anexample radar apparatus of this disclosure with two radar devicessupported by a gimbaled mount.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the electronically scanned angularrange and the mechanically scanned angular range of a radar apparatuswith two radar devices in accordance with one or more techniques of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 9 is an isometric diagram illustrating an example FMCW radardevice.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example FMCW radar antenna array,which may be a component of FMCW radar device, as depicted in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example radar device,including associated electronics.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example receive antennaelement and an example of analog receive electronics.

FIG. 13 illustrates another example block diagram of a portion of theanalog receive electronics for a row of a receive array in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram illustrating example functions ofA/D converters and portions of a digital receive electronics for aquadrant of a receive array as depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram illustrating example functions forproducing a plurality of receive beams from signals received from arespective receive electronics for each quadrant of a receive array.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operation of amulti-function electronically and mechanically steered weather radar inaccordance with one or more techniques of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure is directed to a radar apparatus with a transmissionantenna array that outputs a high aspect ratio (e.g., a high elevationto azimuth ratio) frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW)transmission beam that illuminates an area in the field of regard inelevation and may be mechanically assisted electronic scanning inazimuth. The radar apparatus includes a receive array and receiveelectronics that may receive the reflected return radar signals andelectronically form a plurality of receive beams that may be used todetermine characteristics of the area in the field of regard. Thereceive beams may be used to determine reflectivity of weather systemsand provide a coherent weather picture. The radar apparatus may also,either simultaneously while processing the weather data or as part of amode distinct from a weather radar mode, process the received signalsinto monopulse beams that may be used for accurate navigation as well asdetection and tracking of objects, such as birds, aircraft, unmannedaerial vehicles (UAV) and the like.

The radar apparatus may be mounted on a vehicle, such as an aircraft,UAV or similar vehicle. In some examples, the radar apparatus may beused as a weather radar to detect and evaluate precipitation, potentialicing and other weather conditions. The radar apparatus may include oneor more FMCW radar devices that each include a transmission array,transmission electronics, a receive array, receive electronics andsignal processing circuitry. The FMCW radar device may be referred to asa digital active phased array (DAPA) radar. The high aspect ratiotransmission beam and signal processing of the DAPA radar may provide avariety of operating modes, depending on the phase of flight of anaircraft, or other phase of operation of some other type of vehicle. Inother examples, the radar apparatus may be mounted to a fixed location,such as on a building, a sports stadium, near a harbor and similarlocations. In some examples, the one or more FMCW devices of the radarapparatus may be mounted on a mast in a permanent or semi-permanentinstallation. Examples of semi-permanent installations may be aninstallation used by law enforcement, border security, ground troops,outdoor festival organizers, and other similar groups. The radarapparatus may be used for harbor surveillance to track aerial, afloatand ground vehicles, regional airport surveillance such as trackingaircraft on the ground or in the air and as a ground based weatherradar, detecting UAV or other targets near sensitive buildings orsporting events and similar applications.

One of the problems for a phased array or electronically scanned radaris achieving is very high scan angles, such as on the order of +/−80degrees. At these scan angles, the antenna gain and beam shape areseriously degraded due to basic laws of physics. To solve this problem,many phased array applications will require the use of two or morephased arrays that are mounted at an angle to each other such that noneof the two or more arrays must scan more than +/−45 degrees. However,multiple arrays increase cost, consume more power, and increase weightand volume of the installation. Furthermore, when two units are used,the ability to look straight ahead is actually compromised because bothunits must scan to 45 degrees to look straight ahead due to the face ofboth radar units pointing to either side. The straight ahead region,such as in the example of an aircraft, may be an area of very highinterest to the aircraft crew, and neither radar system can view thestraight ahead region with a low scan angle transmit beam. The combinedunits must then determine which of the two units will deliver the targetdetections in the straight ahead region. Such a system of two units,mounted at fixed angles may combine the outputs of the two phased arraysin a complex manner in order to address this issue of the straight aheadregion. Thus, in such a system, the system provides the lowestperformance at what is for many applications the most importantorientation, i.e., straight ahead. In contrast, the mechanicallyassisted electronically scanned radar apparatus of this disclosure mayuse a single FMCW radar device unit to view the straight ahead region ata low scan angle. The single radar device may require less power andvolume to operate and weigh less than multiple, fixed phased arrayunits, yet can cover a large field of regard because of the mechanicalassist feature.

Unlike a conventional electronically scanned array (ESA) radar with asingle scanned transmit and receive beam, the nature of the multiplesimultaneous receive beams of this disclosure allow multiple functionsto be accomplished effectively simultaneously, i.e. at substantially thesame time. For example, radar imagery of the ground, weather, predictivewind shear, UAV detection and bird detection, as examples, may beaccomplished in one or more receive beams, in combination or separately.This is substantially different from existing or proposed state of theart ESA radars where a single antenna beam is electronically scanned ina raster or other pattern in an attempt to accomplish more than onetask.

The mechanically assisted electronic scan features of the radar of thisdisclosure may also have advantages when compared to radar systems thatmechanically aim a pencil beam type radar transmit beam in multipledirections. The pencil beam type radar systems may require multiplemotors to rapidly slew the pencil beam to cover the entire radar FOR. Incontrast, the radar apparatus of this disclosure may be configured touse less a complex motor arrangement, which may reduce cost and improvereliability. Additionally, as with the electronically scanned pencilbeam, a mechanically scanned pencil beam may use a complex rasterpattern to cover the entire field of regard. A mechanically scannedantenna may require the radar antenna to remain still until thetransmitted waveform is completely received distant targets. This mayresult in an update rate on the order of two to three Hz. In contrast,the mechanically assisted electronically scanned high aspect ratiotransmit beam may conduct a full azimuth sweep of the entire field ofregard in approximately five to six seconds.

In the example of an aircraft, the weather radar may be used in astandard weather radar mode to detect weather systems in the path of theaircraft. When operating in mountainous regions, the lower receive beamsof the radar may be used for navigation, such as for terrain avoidance.On approach to an airport, or on take-off, various receive beams may beused for weather observation, while other receive beams aresimultaneously used to detect hazards on the ground or in the air nearthe aircraft. Similarly, the beams may be used to simultaneously locaterunway approach lights, runway threshold regions, runway surface lights,or other structure that may be used to validate navigation to thedesired airport or runway. This may, for example, include validatingthat the aircraft is approaching the desired runway rather than a nearbytaxiway or adjacent parallel runway. Additionally, the monopulsefunction of the receive beams may be used to measure elevation angleabove the runway such that when combined with range information theradar may compute approach glide slope angle. Other navigation featuresand functions may also be possible. Further, the receive beams may beused singularly or in combination to provide radar images of the runwaythat includes dimensions of range, azimuth angle and elevation angle orheight above the runway surface. Radar imagery may be provided by themonopulse features of the receive beam(s).

The gimbaled mount of an FMCW radar apparatus of this disclosuremechanically assists the electronically scanned angular range of one ormore radar device(s) and in this manner may reduce the number of radardevices needed to cover a given field of regard. In some examples, aradar device may include a transmit antenna, receive antenna, transmitand receive electronics, signal processing and other circuitry on one ormore circuit boards and contained within a housing as a single,integrated device. Fewer radar devices may result in lower powerconsumption and lower weight than a radar apparatus that uses multiple,fixed, electronically scanned radar devices to cover the given field ofregard.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an isometric view of an FMCW radarapparatus according to one or more techniques of this disclosure. Radarapparatus 10 includes radar device 11 supported by gimbaled mount 15.Though radar apparatus 10 may be used in a variety of applications, thisdisclosure will focus on the application as a weather radar in anaircraft, to simplify and clarify the description.

Radar device 11 of radar apparatus 10 outputs an FMCW transmit beam andelectronically scans the FMCW transmit beam in azimuth, e.g. thehorizontal direction with respect to the ground. Radar device 11 mayreceive a plurality of receive signals reflected from objects or weatherwithin the field of regard (FOR) of radar device 11. Radar device 11 maydigitally generate, using the plurality of receive signals, a pluralityof receive beams within the area illuminated by the FMCW transmit beam.

Gimbaled mount 15 may mechanically move radar device 11 in azimuth,which extends the angular range of coverage for the electronic scan ofradar device 11. In some examples, gimbaled mount 15 may receive aposition signal and rotate and aim radar device 11 in response to theposition signal. In other words, gimbaled mount 15 is configured tomechanically move radar device 11 to various positions in the secondillumination direction. In this manner, radar apparatus 10 may cover alarger FOR than a single radar device could cover by electronic scanningalone.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a top view of an FMCW radar apparatusaccording to one or more techniques of this disclosure. FIG. 2 depictsradar apparatus 10, which includes radar device 11 supported by gimbaledmount 15, which perform the same functions as described above. FIG. 2further depicts mounting portion 16 and rotatable housing 19 of gimbaledmount 15.

Mounting portion 16 is one example of a mounting portion of a gimbaledmount 15 that may attach radar apparatus 10 to, for example, within thenose radome of an aircraft or a UAV. Mounting portion 16 may beconfigured to support radar apparatus 10 during operations where radarapparatus 10 may encounter vibration, acceleration forces, turningforces and similar stresses.

Rotatable housing 19 may rotate in relation to mounting portion 16, forexample, in response to a position signal that causes gimbaled mount 15to mechanically rotate radar device 11 to one or more angular positions.Rotatable housing 19 may include one or more motors (not shown in FIG.2) that are configured to rotate radar device 11. The one or more motorsmay be controlled by electronic circuitry within radar device 11. Inother examples, the one or more motors may receive control signals fromother circuitry, such as circuitry within a radar display and controlunit (not shown in FIG. 2). A radar display and control unit may bemounted in a vehicle, such as the cockpit of an aircraft, and displayobjects and weather detected by radar apparatus 10.

Rotatable housing 19 may also include a coiled cable, the coiled cablecomprising a plurality of conductors (not shown in FIG. 2). In someexamples, the coiled cable may be configured to electrically connect theradar device to the mounting portion and further to the radar displayand control unit. The coiled cable may carry electrical power andsignals to and from radar device 11. For example, the coiled cable maycarry control signals from the radar display and control unit to changethe electronic scan pattern of the FMCW transmit beam. The coiled cablesmay carry signals to the one or more motors to cause gimbaled mount 15to rotate radar device 11 in the second illumination direction.

The coiled cable may, in some examples, be referred to as a clock springcable, because the coiled cable may have a shape similar to a clockspring. Other examples may include a multi-pass box spring cable and asingle pass flat ribbon cable. In some examples, rotatable housing 19may include multiple, redundant coiled cables to improve reliability.Rotatable housing 19, the motors described above, or other components ofradar apparatus 10 may provide position feedback to determine theangular position of radar device 11.

In operation, radar device 11 may be configured to electronically scanthe FMCW transmit beam in the second illumination direction whengimbaled mount 15 is mechanically stationary at a predetermined positionof a plurality of predetermined positions. In other examples, radarapparatus 10 may be configured to simultaneously mechanicallyscan/rotate radar device 11 with gimbaled mount 15 while radar device 11electronically scans the radar transmit beam. Electronically scanningthe transmit beam while stationary at a predetermined position may haveadvantages in simplifying the operation of radar apparatus 10. Forexample, signal processing circuitry within radar device 11 may lesscomplex if configured to interpret to angular position of a target froma fixed mechanical position of radar device 11. The signal processingcircuitry may also be configured to determine a more precise targetlocation from a fixed mechanical position, when compared to consideringboth a moving electronic transmit beam and a moving radar device 11.

Radar apparatus 10 of this disclosure may have advantages over otherconfigurations of radar systems that perform similar functions. Inaddition to the advantages described above, a gimbaled mount thatrotates only in the second illumination direction simplifies operationwhen compared to radar systems that mechanically aim a pencil beam typeradar transmit beam in multiple directions. The pencil beam type radarsystems may require multiple, high-torque motors to rapidly slew thepencil beam to cover the entire radar FOR, such as in a complex rasterpattern. In contrast, radar apparatus 10 of this disclosure may beconfigured to use less complex, lower torque motors, such as a brushlessDC motor, which may reduce cost of radar apparatus 10 compared tomechanically scanned pencil beam radar systems. The reduced demand onmotors in radar apparatus 10 may also improve reliability and mean timebetween failures (MTBF) when compared to other types of radar systems.Additionally, a single radar device, fewer motors, and a less complexmechanical support system may have the advantage of reduced powerconsumption, reduced cost, reduce mass and less weight when compared toother existing radar systems.

Radar apparatus 10 if this disclosure differs from a phased arrayantenna system that may include a plurality of segments, such as may beinstalled longitudinally along the upper surface of the fuselage of anairplane. For example, radar apparatus 10 may include the transmit andreceive electronics, including the circuitry for upconversion anddowncoversion to and from RF frequencies, as described in more detail inrelation to FIGS. 9-11 below. Radar apparatus 10 of this disclosuretherefore has no need to feed RF energy along a feed and to introducephase and time delays to coordinate each segment of the plurality ofsegments. The high aspect ratio transmit beam and plurality of receivebeams also differs from other radar systems with movable support meansthat may rotate antenna segments between one or more positions. Theradar apparatus of this disclosure may have advantages in numerousapplications, both vehicle mounted or fixed, as described elsewhere inthis disclosure, for evaluating weather, tracking targets andnavigation, when compared to other radar systems. The radar apparatusmay also have advantages in cost, reduced complexity, weight and volumewhen compared to other radar systems.

FIG. 3 is a top view depiction of aircraft 2, which includes a radarapparatus that outputs an FMCW transmit beam 42 that illuminates an areain a first illumination direction (e.g. in and out of the page) andscans the FMCW transmit beam 42 in a second illumination direction 46.Although FIG. 3 is shown with respect to a weather radar system in anaircraft, and specifically to an airplane, the radar apparatus may alsobe installed in a variety of other types of vehicles, including groundvehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), helicopters, marine vehicles,and similar vehicles. As described above, the radar apparatus may alsobe installed in a fixed location such as on or near buildings, forborder security and other permanent or semi-permanent locations.

Aircraft 2 includes radar apparatus 10, installed in the forward portionof aircraft 2. Radar apparatus 10 may be installed in the nose ofaircraft 2 and protected by a radome as depicted in FIG. 3. In otherexamples, radar apparatus 10 may be installed in a wing pod, or othersimilar structure, on aircraft 2.

As described above, radar apparatus 10 includes radar device 11, whichmay include transmit and receive arrays. radar device 11 may includetransmit electronics and a transmit array including a plurality oftransmit antenna elements (not shown in FIG. 3). The transmitelectronics with the transmit array may be configured to output FMCWtransmit beam 42 and electronically scan FMCW transmit beam 42 in thesecond illumination direction 46, which is in azimuth in the example ofFIG. 3. Gimbaled mount 15 (not shown in FIG. 3) may mechanically scanradar device 11 in the second illumination direction 46 to extend theangular range of the FOR of radar apparatus 10.

The FMCW radar device may analyze many areas within the field of regardof the radar. For example, the FMCW radar device may receive reflectionsfrom a first area illuminated within the beamwidth of FMCW transmit beam42 at a first azimuth relative to the transmit array. The FMCW radardevice may receive reflections from a second area illuminated by theFMCW transmit beam is at a second azimuth relative to the transmitarray. The FMCW radar device may process the received signals todetermine reflectivity or other characteristics of each area.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the electronically scanned angularrange, with mechanical assistance, of a radar apparatus in accordancewith one or more techniques of this disclosure. FIG. 4 depicts anaircraft 2A which includes radar apparatus 10. Aircraft 2A correspondsto the nose radome portion of aircraft 2 depicted in FIGS. 3 and 5.

In the example of FIG. 4, the electronic angular range 242 is the anglethat the radar transmit electronics may scan transmit beam 42 (not shownin FIG. 4) in the second illumination direction. In some examples radardevice 11 of radar apparatus 10 may electronically scan transmit beam 42approximately forty-five degrees on either side of a centerline,relative to radar device 11. In some examples radar device 11 mayelectronically scan transmit beam 42 up to plus or minus sixty degrees.Note, for clarity and to separate the lines in FIG. 4, the angles arenot drawn to scale.

Gimbaled mount 15 of radar apparatus 10 mechanically rotates radardevice 11 through mechanical angular range 244 to extend the electronicangular range 242. In some examples, the mechanical angular range 244may be approximately forty to forty-five degrees. The mechanical angularrange 244 extends the electronic angular range 242 to a combined angularrange of 246. In some examples, the combined angular range 246 may beapproximately 180 degrees.

In one example of a full azimuth sweep, gimbaled mount 15 of radarapparatus 10 may rotate radar device 11 clockwise through the entiremechanical range 244 and execute an electronic scan. Gimbaled mount 15may then mechanically rotate radar device 11 to aim straight ahead ofaircraft 2A, which for many applications, may be the most importantregion of an aircraft's radar FOR. Radar device 11 may pause at thispredetermined position and execute another electronic scan. Finally,gimbaled mount 15 may rotate radar device 11 counterclockwise throughthe entire mechanical range (e.g. to the left of aircraft 2A, not shownin FIG. 4). Radar device may execute a third electronic scan at thisthird predetermined position. In this manner, radar apparatus 10 mayconduct a full azimuth sweep with a single, mechanically assistedelectronic scanned radar device. A full azimuth sweep may takeapproximately five to six seconds, in some examples.

In other examples, radar apparatus 10 may conduct a full azimuth sweepby pausing at four or more predetermined positions. Also, radarapparatus 10 may pause to focus on one or more regions of the radar FOR,for example to take additional scans of a possible collision hazard,dwell on a weather system of interest or for other reasons as describedin more detail in relation to FIG. 6 below. In some examples, during adwell period, or during a sweep, radar apparatus 10 may adjust themodulation bandwidth or chirp time to optimize detection and analysis invarious modes.

Radar apparatus 10 may have advantages when compared to ESA radar with asingle scanned pencil transmit and receive beam that have no mechanicalassist. A fixed position ESA radar may require two or three arrays tocover the same FOR as radar apparatus 10 with a single radar device 11.In the example of a fixed position ESA radar with two antenna arrayfaces, the array faces may be aimed at approximately forty-five degreesoutward relative to the aircraft centerline. This results in theairspace directly in front of the aircraft covered by a combination ofeach of the two array faces at a high scan angle. This may requirecomplex processing to detect and analyze weather and targets directly infront of the aircraft. In contrast, the radar apparatus of thisdisclosure may cover a field of regard of 180 degrees in front ofaircraft 2A with less complex signal processing than required with amultiple, fixed ESA radar system. Also, radar apparatus 10 scans theportion of FOR directly in front of the aircraft with a transmit beam ata low scan angle, which as described above avoids limitations of atransmit beam at high scanned angles.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-function, electronicallyand mechanically steered weather radar installed in an aircraft. FIG. 5depicts aircraft 2, which includes radar apparatus 10 that outputs anFMCW transmit beam 42 that illuminates an area in a first illuminationdirection 45. In the example of FIG. 5 the first illumination direction45 is in elevation and, in some examples, may be at least +/−30 degreeswith respect to radar apparatus 10. Transmit beam 42 simultaneouslyilluminates the area in the first illumination direction in front ofaircraft 2. As described above, radar apparatus 10 electronically andmechanically scans the FMCW transmit beam in azimuth. Radar apparatus 10need not scan the high aspect ratio FMCW transmit beam in elevation, toilluminate the area in front of aircraft 2.

Illumination direction 45 of FIG. 5 generally runs into and out of thepage with respect to FIG. 3. Illumination direction 46 of FIG. 3generally runs into and out of the page with respect to FIG. 5.Comparing the beam width of the top view of FIG. 3 to the side view ofFIG. 5 depicts FMCW transmit beam 42 with a high aspect ratio. In otherwords, FMCW transmit beam 42 illuminates an area with a greater extentin a first illumination direction (e.g., illumination direction 45 inFIGS. 5 and 6) than in a second illumination direction (e.g.,illumination direction 46, in FIGS. 3 and 6) wherein the secondillumination direction 46 is substantially perpendicular to the firstillumination direction 45.

Radar apparatus 10 may receive a plurality of receive signals reflectedfrom objects or weather in front of aircraft 2. Radar apparatus 10 maygenerate, using the plurality of receive signals, a plurality of receivebeams 44C and 44E within the area illuminated by the FMCW transmit beam42. In some examples, the digitally formed receive beams may bemonopulse beams used to track objects within the FOR of radar apparatus10. In other examples, the receive beams may be FMCW receive beamsusing, as one example, sum analysis to analyze weather, such asprecipitation, within the field of regard of radar apparatus 10.

Radar device 11 of radar apparatus 10 may also include receiveelectronics and a receive array comprising a plurality of receiveantenna elements, as described above. The receive array may receive aplurality of receive signals, reflected from objects illuminated by FMCWtransmit beam 42. The receive electronics may generate the plurality ofreceive beams from the receive signals, such as receive beams 44C and44E. Radar device 11 may include processing circuitry that determine oneor more characteristics of a plurality of sub-areas of the areailluminated by FMCW transmit beam 42, wherein a sub-area of theplurality of sub-areas is within a receive beam of the plurality ofreceive beams. Because FMCW transmit beam 42 has a high aspect ratio,the processing circuitry may determine the one or more characteristicsof a first sub-area of a plurality of sub-areas for the first area atthe first azimuth at substantially the same time as a second sub-area ofthe plurality of sub-areas for the first area at the first azimuth. Thisis because FMCW transmit beam 42 simultaneously illuminates an area inthe first illumination direction, which is elevation in the example ofFIG. 5.

FMCW radar operation may provide advantages over pulsed or other typesof radar systems because FMCW permits any desired range resolution and aminimum detection range that is equal to the range resolution of theradar. For example, during operation in the air, the radar may use withmodest range resolution, with larger range bins. During groundoperations FMCW radar allows very fine range resolution on the order ofa meter or less such as while in taxi on the runway or taxi way areas ofan airport.

This same set of multiple beams may be used for marine radarapplications where a radar system according to the techniques of thisdisclosure may measure elevation angle unlike conventional marineradars, which do not measure elevation. Therefore, a marine radar thatfunctions according to this disclosure with a wide field of regard inelevation may permit the detection of air vehicles such as a UAV withupper receive beams at the same time as the lower beams are mapping thewater surface for targets, navigation aids, or shorelines. Currentlysmall mechanically scanned marine radars use a very large elevationbeamwidth of ˜22 degrees to accommodate pitch and roll of the marinevehicle but makes no elevation angle measurement. The set of multiplebeams according to the techniques in this disclosure may permit a marineradar to provide multiple functions in a relatively small packagesuitable for armed forces, police or other civil defense functions tocover both air and surface surroundings. Motion of the vehicle may beelectronically removed via electronic receive beam elevation scanning.

Similarly, ground-based vehicles, such as those used by military, lawenforcement, and border control, may use a multiple receive beam FMCWradar as described in this disclosure to provide threat detection, suchas a UAV or other threats, that may pose a potential threat. Themultiple receive beams of an FMCW radar apparatus according to thetechniques of this disclosure may rapidly search a very large volume injust one azimuth pass of the high aspect ratio transmit antenna pattern.Coverage of the very large search volume and tracking large numbers oftargets are both difficult, if not impossible, for a single beam, rasterscanned ESA radar. Therefore, an FMCW radar apparatus according to thisdisclosure may provide significant advantages over a single beam ESAradar.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example transmit beam 42 and aplurality of example receive beams 44A-44L. Transmit beam 42 may, forexample, be the same as FMCW transmit beams 42, 42A and 42B depicted inFIGS. 3-5 and 8. Transmit beam 42 is depicted as being approximatelyelliptical in shape, with a greater extent in elevation than in azimuth.FIG. 6 also depicts a representation of a predetermined area 48 which isto be illuminated by FMCW radar apparatus 10 (FIGS. 1-5). As shown inFIG. 2, transmit beam 42 may be at least as tall in elevation as theelevation of predetermined area 48, such that transmit beam 42illuminates the entire elevation of a section of predetermined area 48without steering or scanning transmit beam 42 in elevation.Predetermined area 48 corresponds to the FOR covered by electronicangular range 242 depicted in FIG. 4. In other examples, transmit beam42 may be wide in azimuth and narrow in elevation. In general, transmitbeam 42 may have a greater extent in a first illumination direction 45than in a second illumination direction 46 substantially perpendicularto the first illumination direction 45. In other words, the transmitbeam has a high aspect ratio, which in some examples is at least 10:1.In some examples, the beamwidth in the second illumination direction isapproximately four to eight degrees while the beam width in the firstillumination direction is approximately 60 degrees. In the example ofFIG. 2, the first illumination direction is the vertical beamwidth andthe second illumination direction is the horizontal beamwidth.

In the example of a weather radar mounted on an aircraft, as depicted inFIG. 5, where the aircraft is flying at a normal cruising altitude ofapproximately 30,000 feet (8000 to 10,000 meters), the transmit beam inthe first illumination direction 45 may reflect from targets or weatheron the ground and as high as the troposphere without scanning inelevation. In other words, at a given point in time, transmit beam 42may simultaneously transmit radar energy from radar apparatus 10 toilluminate the entire vertical dimension of predetermined area 48 in thefirst illumination direction 45.

Illuminating the entire vertical dimension may provide severaladvantages over conventional radar that must raster scan a pencil beamin both elevation and azimuth to illuminate predetermined area 48. Theseadvantages are in addition to the advantages in regard to the motorsdescribed above in relation to FIG. 2. Unlike conventional radar thatmust use a raster scan pencil beam, radar apparatus 10 may sweeptransmit beam 42 in azimuth only and thus illuminate predetermined area48 more quickly. As a result, a radar system according to the techniquesof this disclosure may allow transmit beam 42 to be available toconcentrate on storms vertically and to scan over a limited azimuthextent with full instantaneous vertical extent. Some advantages mayinclude providing a coherent weather picture of certain weather systems,such as a thunderstorm that may extend for thousands of feet inaltitude. For example, radar energy in transmit beam 42 transmitted at agiven time may simultaneously illuminate a sub-region of predeterminedarea 48.

In the example of a thunderstorm, though the reflected return signalsmay arrive at the receive elements of radar apparatus 10 at differenttimes, depending on the range of the features of the thunderstorm fromradar apparatus 10 receive electronics within radar apparatus 10 mayprocess the signals and assemble a coherent weather analysis without asmany complex adjustments to compensate for movement of the aircraft asis required for a conventional pencil beam raster scan radar. Forexample, a jet aircraft may travel several hundred meters over the timeperiod it takes a pencil beam to scan in elevation. A raster scan radarreceiver processor must account for all the different positions theaircraft was in for each different transmission elevation angle. Incontrast, a radar system in accordance with the techniques of thisdisclosure, may only need to account for a single aircraft position fora transmission that illuminates the entire vertical dimension ofpredetermined area 48 in the first illumination direction 45.

In addition to simplified processing, this single transmission time toilluminate the range of elevation may offer other advantages, such asfaster update times. A radar system in accordance with the techniques ofthis disclosure may repeatedly illuminate predetermined area 48 in lesstime than it may take a raster scan radar with a pencil beam. This maybe advantageous for rapidly changing conditions, fast moving targets ordetecting items that are close to the aircraft. The transmission array,and associated transmit electronics, for the high aspect ratio transmitbeam, may be less complex and consume less power than transmitelectronics required for an ESA radar with a pencil beam. This mayreduce power consumption and heat dissipation requirements for the radardevice 11, as well as allow the FMCW radar device to be smaller and lessexpensive. Other advantages will be described in more detail below.

In more detail, the operation of radar apparatus 10 includes a pluralityof digitally formed receive beams. Receive beams 44C and 44E depicted inFIG. 6 are similar to receive beams 44C and 44E depicted in FIG. 5.Although twelve receive beams 44 are illustrated in FIG. 6, in otherexamples, the receive electronics may be configured to generate more orfewer receive beams (collectively referred to as receive beams 44). Forexample, the receive electronics associated with the receive array maybe configured to generate two receive beams 44.

In some examples, the receive electronics associated with the receivearray is configured to scan, or steer, each of the plurality of receivebeams 44 in the second illumination direction (e.g., azimuth) inparallel with transmit beam 42. For example, the receive electronicsassociated with the receive array may be configured to scan, or steer,each of the plurality of receive beams 44 in the second illuminationdirection (e.g., azimuth) such that the plurality of receive beams 44are scanned at the same rate and to corresponding locations so that theplurality of receive beams 44 are substantially always (e.g., always ornearly always) located within the area illuminated by transmit beam 42.

The receive beams may be generated electronically, such as throughdigital beam forming (DBF) circuitry. A difference between scanning thetransmit beam 42 and scanning the receive beams 44 is that the transmitbeam 42 may physically change azimuth with respect to radar apparatus10. Receive beams 44 are contained within the processing circuitry ofradar device 11 and do not physically move with respect to radarapparatus 10.

As with a conventional weather radar system having a mechanicallyscanned transmit antenna, the radar energy in transmit beam 42 leavesradar apparatus 10 at different angles of azimuth at different times.The high aspect ratio transmit beam 42 illuminates the range ofelevation for each azimuth angle. For the receive beams, the radarenergy from transmit beam 42 reflects from objects in predetermined area48. Objects may be ice crystals, precipitation, other aircraft,ground-based features, birds, and so on. The reflected energy arrives ata receive array (described in more detail below in relation to FIGS. 9and 10). The received radar signals from each receive array areprocessed, e.g. phase shifted, summed and/or combined to electronicallyform beams within radar apparatus 10. This electronic beam formingoccurs within the circuits, processors, and other components of radarapparatus 10.

In a normal weather search mode, radar apparatus 10 may execute a singleazimuth pass of transmit beam 42 across the maximum and minimum of theazimuth range. As described above in relation to FIG. 4, radar apparatus10 may execute the single azimuth pass with a combination of mechanicalassist by gimbaled mount 15 and electronic scan of radar device 11, asdescribed above in relation to FIG. 4. In some examples, a singleazimuth pass may take approximately 5-6 seconds.

A buffer memory, which may include three-dimensional (3-D) information,may be filled in a single azimuth pass at a range of over 320 nauticalmiles (NM). In some examples, the electronic scan may take approximatelythree-seconds. Radar 10 may collect and store a full verticalinformation of all storm or other weather structures in this singleazimuth scan. During flight, the processing circuitry within radar 10 onaircraft 2 may assemble a coherent mapping of reflectivitycharacteristics in the first illumination direction. For example, a mainindicator in the detection of high altitude ice crystals (HAIC) and highice water content (HIWC) may be based on an integrated verticalreflectivity of the storm.

A pencil beam radar may take 30 seconds or more to collect data for theentire region in front of the aircraft, because the pencil beam radarmust scan in both elevation and azimuth. Assembling a raster scan of thedata may require complex adjustments for radar beam transmission timeand aircraft position, as described above. For example, a pencil beamradar may have to account for changes in range gates, angular changes,and other decorrelation issues caused by the movement of the vehicleduring the scan.

An additional advantage of radar apparatus 10 includes forming acoherent weather picture with the high aspect ratio transmission beamduring the sum analysis. The reflected return signals for a givenazimuth arrive at the receive array as phase coherent and amplitudecoherent signals. The phase coherency, for example, may allow verticallyintegrated reflectivity. Unlike a conventional raster scan radar, radarapparatus 10 may therefore avoid potential noise in the radar signalprocessing caused by the decorrelation of the returns from a scannedpencil beam. In some examples, radar apparatus 10 may also computeangular Doppler across the beams.

In an enhanced weather mode, radar apparatus 10 may use additional timeto perform additional weather analysis. For example, in a 30 secondupdate cycle, radar apparatus 10 may use the remaining seconds after thefull azimuth scan to return to storm cell locations to dwell for severalfrequency modulation periods. Other enhanced weather functions mayinclude additional scans of one or more storm cell regions, changes tothe transmit beam modulation waveforms for Doppler or othermeasurements, and use of the receive beams to capture details of one ormore storm cells from ground to maximum altitude. Radar apparatus 10 mayuse an extended dwell capability to repeat HAIC detections over a shortperiod of seconds, or fraction of seconds to verify and validate theHAIC presence. The increased dwell may allow detection of HAIC that isof lower reflectivity. In some examples, during a dwell period, orduring a sweep, radar apparatus 10 may adjust the modulation bandwidthor chirp time to optimize detection and analysis in various modes. Theanalysis may be done over discrete periods of time, which may be calledepochs. For example, radar apparatus 10 may cause the transmit beam todwell at an azimuth for a ten millisecond epoch, while changing themodulation scheme in two millisecond intervals to optimize certainfunctions or modes. Additional modes are discussed in more detail inTable 1.

In addition to the weather radar functions, the high aspect ratiotransmit beam 42 may provide additional functions for vehicles in whichradar apparatus 10 is installed. As described above, the high aspectratio transmit beam, with a wide field of regard in elevation providesseveral advantages in analyzing weather, when compared to othermechanically or electronically steered pencil beam radars that must usea raster scan to illuminate an area of interest. In the example of anaircraft, radar apparatus 10 may use the plurality of receive beams 44for analysis beyond weather analysis as well as execute differentfunctions in different phases of flight. For example, lower receivebeams may be used for terrain avoidance or terrain followingapplications while upper beams simultaneously provide airborne targetdetection or weather detection.

Another example of analysis beyond weather analysis may include usingthe enhanced dwell capability of radar apparatus 10 in conjunction withmultiple receive beams arrayed over the high aspect ratio transmit beam(e.g., 60 degrees of elevation) to detect volcanic ash. Radar apparatus10 may discriminate between cloud and ash reflections via Doppleranalysis over an extended period of time, such as one or more seconds.The extended dwell time may provide added signal processing gain forincreased sensitivity to search for heavier and more detectable ashbelow the aircraft. When in the vicinity of known active volcanos, radarapparatus 10 may provide a dedicated scan of the volcano top and airabove the volcano to detect possible volcanic eruptions where the ash isthe most dense and therefore more detectable. In some examples radarapparatus 10 may perform an optimization process on a waveform toimprove range resolution and detection range based on distance to thevolcano.

In some examples, radar apparatus 10 may combine radar signalinformation with a volcano location and height database as part of theterrain map capability. The signal processing in radar apparatus 10 mayuse multiple receive beams to establish ground level and multiplereceive beamwidths to reduce azimuth sidelobe clutter from the groundreturns.

In more detail, radar apparatus 10 may use additional scans andprocessing to reduce or eliminate clutter returns. For example, radarapparatus 10 may use stored data sets that include stored radar returnsignals to increase the beamwidth of the receive beams to create a“guard channel” to determine sidelobe clutter that may cause false PWSDoppler signatures and eliminate those sources. In one example, whenoperating to reduce or identify clutter returns, such as false returnsfrom sidelobes, radar apparatus 10 may turn off or ignore returnsreceived from some elements of the receive array to effectively increasethe receive beam width. Radar apparatus 10 may process returns from thewider beam width to determine whether some received return signals werein the sidelobes, and therefore could be considered clutter, or if thereturns were in the main beam. In some examples, radar apparatus 10 mayalso adjust the gain and frequency of the transmit beam duringprocessing or scans to reduce clutter.

In the example of aircraft 2 approaching for landing, radar apparatus 10may the plurality of receive beams 44 for other functions. For example,receive beams 44I-44L may function as monopulse receive beams to trackobjects on or near the ground. For example, receive beams 44I-44L mayprovide the pilot with a radar picture of the airport that aircraft 2 isapproaching. A smooth runway surface typically reflects little radarenergy back to radar apparatus 10 and may appear as a black area on theradar. The areas between runways may be composed of turf, gravel orother material and reflect more energy back to radar apparatus 10 whichmay appear different than a smooth runway. The landing system lighting,runway and taxiway lighting and other features of an airport may alsoreflect radar energy. The receive array of radar apparatus 10, such asreceive array 20, may receive the plurality of return signals andgenerate monopulse receive beams for receive beams 44I-44L. Monopulsereceive beams may provide accurate angle and distance measurements aswell as tracking of objects within the sub-areas illuminated by areceive beam. Collision avoidance characteristics of a sub-area mayinclude range, bearing, tracking and size characteristics of an objectin the sub-area.

By tracking and depicting the features of the approaching airport, radarapparatus 10 may assist the pilot in determining that aircraft 2 isapproaching the correct runway because the expected features of theairport should match the radar picture. This redundancy in navigationmay be valuable such as with inadequate GPS coverage, or in cases of GPSand wide area augmentation system (WAAS) malfunction or jamming. Inother words, radar apparatus 10 may detect runway approach lights andrunway edges for runway alignment and glideslope verification. Signalprocessing within radar apparatus 10 may implement monopulse azimuth andelevation in one receive beam to provide high angular resolution ofrunway edge lights and runway approach lights.

Additionally, radar apparatus 10 may assist the pilot in determining ifthere are hazards on the runway such as ground vehicles, barriers,debris, animals or other hazards. For example, on final approach to arunway, radar apparatus 10 may use one or more receive beams 44 tosearch the runway for intrusions by vehicles or other aircraft with adedicated scan for this purpose. Radar apparatus 10 may use a transmitbeam waveform that may optimize range resolution and maximum detectionrange and monopulse mode for accurate angular resolution. For example,in some modes, radar apparatus 10 may output radar signals with a 100MHz chirp over one millisecond and in other modes radar apparatus 10 mayoutput radar signals with a 100 MHz chirp over five milliseconds.

Simultaneously with receive beams 44I-44L providing a navigation andground hazards, receive beams 44A-44C may continue to provide weatherinformation during the approach of aircraft 2 to the airport above andbeyond the runway. In some examples, radar apparatus 10 may determineweather characteristics and PWS events using, for example, sum analysisof the respective receive beam. Receive electronics associated withreceive array 20 may generate receive beams 44A-44C as FMCW receivebeams to determine the one or more characteristics of a sub-areas withinthe receive beams. Characteristics such as reflectivity may helpdetermine the weather in the path of aircraft 2.

Simultaneously with receive beams 44I-44L providing a ground picture andreceive beams 44A-44C providing weather information, other receive beamsmay provide collision avoidance, or other functions. For example,receive electronics associated with receive array 20 may generatereceive beams 44D-44H as monopulse receive beams to locate and trackother aircraft, UAVs, birds, bats or other hazards to aircraft 2. Insome examples, radar apparatus 10 may execute a dedicated azimuth scanfocused around the runway approach region to detect UAVs, especiallysmall UAVS. Upon detecting a possible UAV, radar apparatus 10 may usededicated modulation waveforms and monopulse angle measurements to trackthe UAV. Similarly, radar apparatus 10 may use one or more beams in adedicated scan to search for bird flocks, along with dedicated waveform,range settings and range resolution, while continuing to perform otherradar functions described in this disclosure. The high aspect ratiotransmit beam and combined mechanical and electronic scanning may allowfor faster updates to rapidly changing targets, with reduced emphasis onmore constant sub-areas, such as landmarks or other navigation features.

In some examples, radar apparatus 10 may use one or more of receivebeams 44D-44H to execute simultaneous predictive wind shear (PWS)analysis of the air mass between aircraft 2 and the approaching airport.The high aspect ratio of transmit beam 42 provides an advantage over apencil beam radar because radar apparatus 10 scans transmit beam 42 inazimuth without the need to scan in elevation thereby providing morefrequent updates. In some examples, radar apparatus 10 may outputsignals to a synthetic vision system (SVS), which may be valuable in adegraded visibility environment. In addition to aircraft 2, of radarapparatus 10 may be installed in a helicopter, where the output of radarapparatus 10 may be valuable while landing in blowing dust (brown-out)or blowing snow (white-out) conditions. Radar apparatus 10 mayinterleave all approach phase scans and searches with other radarfunctions described herein.

The radar system operating according to the techniques of thisdisclosure may not simultaneously receive return signals that were alltransmitted at the same time. For example, the high aspect ratiotransmission beam may transmit radar signals for a selected azimuth overthe entire elevation simultaneously. Radar signals that reflect frommore distant objects arrive at the receive array later than radarsignals that reflect from closer objects. During post-processing, radarapparatus 10 may assemble the radar returns from a single chirp, orplurality of chirps, into a coherent picture for a selected azimuth.Radar apparatus 10 may simultaneously perform sum beam processing todetermine, for example weather characteristics, as well as monopulsedigital beam forming for navigation, collision avoidance or otherfunctions. Some additional functions are described in more detail belowin Table 1 below.

FIGS. 7A and 7B depict a top view and isometric view respectively of anexample radar apparatus of this disclosure with two radar devicessupported by a gimbaled mount. The example of FIGS. 7A and 7B depictradar apparatus 10A, which includes radar devices 11A and 11B andgimbaled mount 15A. Radar devices 11A and 11B correspond to radar device11, and perform similar functions, as described elsewhere in thisdisclosure.

Gimbaled mount 15A is similar to gimbaled mount 15 described elsewherein this disclosure. Example gimbaled mount 15A is configured to supportand mechanically rotates radar devices 11A and 11B. Gimbaled mount 15Amay include coiled cables connecting power and signals between radardevices 11A and 11B and a radar display and control unit as describedabove in relation to FIG. 2. Gimbaled mount 15A may rotate radar devices11A and 11B in both a clockwise and counter-clockwise direction tomechanically extend the angular range of the electronic scan of radardevices 11A and 11B. In other words, gimbaled mount 15A is configured tomechanically scan radar device 11A and radar device 11B in the secondillumination direction.

In the example of FIGS. 7A and 7B, the first radar device 11A, theapparatus further comprising, a second radar device, wherein thegimbaled mount 15A is configured to support the second radar device 11Bsuch that radar device 11B is substantially parallel to the first radardevice 11A. In other words, the transmit array of radar device 11B facesin a substantially opposite direction from the transmit array of radardevice 11A. Similarly, the receive array of radar device 11B faces in asubstantially opposite direction from the receive array of radar device11A.

In other examples, gimbaled mount 15A may support radar device 11A maybe at a different angle than parallel with radar device 11B. Forexample, radar apparatus 10A may be mounted on a marine vessel andgimbaled mount 15A may be configured to support the radar devices suchthat the combined mechanical and electronic scan range avoids a portionof the superstructure of the marine vessel. Similarly, radar apparatus10A may be mounted on a helicopter or other vehicle, and may beconfigured to provide a FOR that is specific for that vehicle. Thedesired FOR of the vehicle may benefit from radar device 11A supportedby gimbaled mount 15A at an angle that is different from substantiallyparallel to radar device 11B. In other examples, radar apparatus 10A maybe mounted at a permanent or semi-permanent fixed location to providesurface based weather radar, tracking of aerial and ground vehicles andother targets. Some examples of fixed locations may include a floatingoil rig, government buildings or other structures that may wish to trackaerial vehicle movement and weather, and temporary airfields such as formilitary or exploration purposes, such as in Antarctica.

Though the example radar apparatus 10A depicted in FIGS. 7A and 7Bincludes more than one radar device 11 that may be rotated between oneor more positions, radar apparatus 10A differs from other existing radarsystems that may include mechanically movable segments. Existing radarsystems with mechanically movable segments may include multiple shaftsto rotate radiating faces of antenna elements such that the faces areparallel and coplanar to allow the segments to operate as a singleantenna. In contrast, the radar apparatus of this disclosure includes anFMCW transmit antenna with a high aspect ratio transmit beam, asdescribed above in relation to FIGS. 3-6. The receive antenna of theradar apparatus of this disclosure and the transmit antenna rotatetogether as a single unit to cover the radar field of regard. The radarapparatus of this disclosure may also have advantages in cost, reducedcomplexity, weight and volume and a wider range of applications whencompared to other radar systems.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the electronically scanned angularrange and the mechanically scanned angular range of a radar apparatuswith two radar devices in accordance with one or more techniques of thisdisclosure. Radar apparatus 10A corresponds to radar apparatus 10A asdepicted in FIGS. 7A and 7B.

Radar device 11A of outputs FMCW transmit beam 42A which may haveelectronic angular range 242A. Similarly, radar device 11B of outputsFMCW transmit beam 42B which may have electronic angular range 242B.

Gimbaled mount 15A of radar apparatus 10A (not shown in FIG. 8) maymechanically scan, e.g. rotate, radar devices 11A and 11B both clockwiseand counter clockwise. For example, rotating the radar devices clockwisethrough mechanical angular range 244A may extend the electronic angularrange of both radar devices 11A and 11B. Similarly, gimbaled mount 15Amay be configured to mechanically rotate the radar devices throughmechanical angular range 244B. In this manner, mechanical angular range244A and 244B extends the electronic angular range 242A and 242B to acombined angular range of 246A. In some examples, the combined angularrange 246A, and therefore the FOR of radar apparatus 10A, may beapproximately 360 degrees in the second illumination direction.

FIG. 9 is an isometric diagram illustrating an example FMCW radar device11. In some examples, radar device 11 may include a plurality of printedcircuit boards disposed substantially parallel to each other and to thefront surface of radar device 11. In some examples, the top layerprinted board may be referred to as a patch layer, and may includeantenna elements, such as transmit array 18, electronic bandgap (EBG)isolator 22 and receive array 20 and radio frequency components.Transmit array 18, receive array 20 and EBG isolator 22 may be similaror the same as FMCW radar array 12 depicted in FIG. 9.

In the example of FIG. 9, EBG isolator 22 is disposed between thetransmit array 18 and receive array 20. In some examples, EBG isolator22 may be printed array of resonant patch elements having dimensionsselected to provide cancellation of electromagnetic radiation from theFMCW transmit beam, such as transmit beam 42 as described elsewhere inthis disclosure. EBG isolator 22 may reduce a magnitude of radiationfrom transmit array 12 to which receive array 20 is indirectly exposed.In other words, EBG isolator 22 may isolate transmit array 18 fromreceive array 20. The components of radar device 11 may be a single,integrated package. Other examples of radar device 11 may include othertypes of isolation to minimize interference in the receive array fromthe transmit array.

In some examples, other printed boards (not shown in FIG. 9) may includedigital and frequency synthesizer components including devices, such asfield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), that control scanning andbeamforming on receive. Some additional printed circuit boards mayinclude power supply components and additional signal processingcomponents, along with an interface for connecting radar device 11 toother FMCW radar arrays and/or components of the aircraft or device onwhich radar device 11 is utilized. In some examples, multiple FMCW radararrays, such as those depicted in FIGS. 7A and 7B, may be connected tocommon control electronics, which may control operation of the FMCWradar arrays, including, for example, radar pulse synchronization,scanning frequencies, target tracking, or the like.

The printed circuit boards, transmit array 18 and receive array 20 arephysically proximate to each other, e.g., located in a single housing13. For example, the patch layer, heatsink 14 and the cover may beconsidered a housing. The printed circuit boards, including the patchlayer may include the components described below in relation to FIGS.11-15 for an FMCW radar device and located in single housing. In someexamples, radar device 11 may be referred to as a radar device becausethe transmit electronics, receive electronics, processing circuitry,transmit and receive antenna are all located in a single housing.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example FMCW radar antenna array,which may be a component of an FMCW radar device, as depicted in FIG. 9.Radar apparatus 10 may include one or more radar devices 11, asdescribed above. As in the example of FIG. 10, FMCW radar array 12includes a transmit array 18 and a receive array 20. Like FMCW radararray 12 shown in FIG. 9, the example of FMCW radar array 12 shown inFIG. 3 also includes EBG isolator 22 disposed between the transmit array18 and a receive array 20.

Transmit array 18 includes a plurality of transmit antenna elements 24.In some examples, transmit array 18 includes two rows (orientedhorizontally in the example of FIG. 10) of transmit antenna elements 24,and each row includes twenty-four transmit antenna elements 24. Ingeneral, transmit array 18 may include at least one row of transmitantenna elements 24, and each row may include a plurality of antennaelements 24. In some examples, adjacent transmit antenna elements 24 maybe spaced apart in the horizontal direction by approximately one-half ofthe wavelength of the radar transmit beam generated using transmit array18, e.g. radar transmit beam 42 depicted in FIGS. 3 and 5.

As shown in FIG. 10, receive array 20 may be conceptually divided intoquadrants 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d (collectively, “quadrants 32”). In someexamples, receive array 20 is also electrically divided into quadrants32, e.g., based on the electrical connections of the receive antennaelements 34 to receive electronics that process the signals detected byreceive antenna elements 34. Receive signals from each of receive arrayelements 34 may be used to generate monopulse tracking beams usingmonopulse beam arithmetic, and dividing receive array 20 into quadrants32 may facilitate generation of monopulse tracking beams, as describedbelow. In some examples, each of quadrants 32 includes the same numberof receive antenna elements 34. For example, in the implementation shownin FIG. 10, each of quadrants 32 includes twelve rows of twelve receiveantenna elements 34, for a total of 144 receive antenna elements 34 ineach of quadrants 32 (each row is oriented horizontally and each columnis oriented vertically in the example of FIG. 10). In other examples,each of quadrants 32 may include 10 rows of receive antenna elements 34,each row including 12 receive antenna elements 34 (for a total of 120receive antenna elements in each of quadrants 32). Hence, in theillustrated example, receive array 20 includes twenty-four rows ofreceive antenna elements 34, and each row includes twenty-four receiveantenna elements 34. In other examples, receive array 20 may include adifferent number of receive antenna elements 34. For example, receivearray 20 may include more or fewer rows of receive antenna elements 34,and each row may include more or fewer receive antenna elements 34 thandepicted in FIG. 3. In general, receive array 20 may include a pluralityof rows of receive antenna elements 34 and each row may include aplurality of receive antenna elements 34. In some examples, adjacentreceive antenna elements 34 may be spaced apart in the horizontaldirection by approximately one-half of the wavelength of the transmitbeam generated using transmit array 18.

In some examples, receive antenna elements 34 may be arranged in asquare array of receive antenna elements 34 (e.g., the number of rows ofreceive antenna elements 34 is the same as the number of receive antennaelements 34 in each row). In other examples, receive antenna elements 34may be arranged in a rectangular array of receive antenna elements 34(e.g., the number of rows of receive antenna elements 34 is differentthan the number of receive antenna elements 34 in each row).Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the number of receiveantenna elements 34 in a row of receive array 20 may be different thanthe number of transmit antenna elements 24 in a row of transmit array18. Alternatively, or additionally, receive antenna elements 34 may notbe arranged in rows and columns as depicted in FIG. 3; instead, receiveantenna elements 34 may be arranged in another geometric ornon-geometric array.

In some examples, a proposed system is a continuous wave (transmits 100%of the time) at approximately 30 W and uses a total input power for asingle radar device 11 of approximately 180 W. The top transmit elementrows use transmitter parts, while the remaining receive element rows usereceive only parts. This may reduce costs when compared to a pulse radarsystem by reducing the number of high cost transmit components. In thisdisclosure, “substantially” and “approximately” mean within measurementand/or manufacturing tolerances.

Radar device 11 controls electronic beam steering by phase shifting theoutput of transmit array 18. Radar device 11 may adjust azimuthbeamwidth and gain by digitally turning off transmit elements 24 at theedge of transmit array 18. Azimuth beamwidth of radar transmit beam 42corresponds to the second illumination direction 46, as depicted in theexample of FIG. 6. In some examples, turning off pairs of transmitelements 24 may also require adjusting the amplitude taper across thearray under software control. In some examples, amplitude taper may beprovided by a variable gain amplifier (VGA) in each column of thetransmit array. Therefore, the beamwidth of transmit beam 42 may beincreased for special applications under software control, which will bedescribed in more detail below, for example in Table 1. FMCW radardevice transmit array may be used across radar S, C, X, Ku, K or Kabands.

Transmit electronics associated with a transmit array, such as transmitarray 18 in FIG. 10, may be configured to electronically scan, or steer,transmit beam 42 in azimuth (e.g., the second illumination direction46). In some examples, the transmit electronics may be configured toapply a phase shift, which changes as a function of time, to eachtransmit antenna element 24 of the plurality of transmit antennaelements. Shifting the phase as a function of time results in transmitbeam 42 being electronically scanned in azimuth.

Transmit array 18, in some examples, is a lower gain transmitteraperture that provides wide elevation beamwidth illumination of transmitbeam 42. Such an array may appear to potentially impact systemsensitivity because of reduced transmitter antenna gain relative to thelarger receiver aperture. However, lower transmitter aperture gain hasbeen offset by using a high average transmitter power (e.g. 30 W),increased integration dwell time and simultaneous generation of multiplereceive beams within the large transmitter illumination area, asdescribed above in relation to FIG. 6, and elsewhere in this disclosure.A transmitter aperture of this disclosure may provide advantages over atransmitter aperture that matched the same high gain as the receiver,because a high gain transmitter aperture would also create a narrow“flashlight” or pencil beam pattern that would then require anelectronic raster scan that would result in slower image update rates.

Therefore, the wide elevation illumination pattern of transmit beam 42of this disclosure provides simplified prioritization and a high updaterate without complex scan scheduling. Transmit beam 42 also has thebenefit of instantly mapping the entire vertical extent of convectivestorms via the simultaneous digitally formed receive beams, as describedabove. The ability to use refined angular measurement of monopulse beamssignificantly enhances weather system behavior estimation at longerranges.

For radar apparatus 10, according to the techniques of this disclosure,all transmit antenna elements of the plurality of transmit antennaelements output FMCW transmit beam 42 at all times during operation ofthe device. Similarly, all receive antenna elements of the plurality ofreceive antenna elements receive the plurality of receive signals at alltimes during the operation of the device. Radar apparatus 10 may includeprocessing circuitry operable to determine one or more characteristicsof a plurality of sub-areas of the area illuminated by the FMCW transmitbeam, wherein a sub-area of the plurality of sub-areas is within areceive beam of the plurality of receive beams. EBG 22, which is alsodepicted in FIG. 9, may reduce the interference between transmit array18 and receive array 20.

In some examples, the receive electronics associated with receive array20 may be configured to scan, or steer, the plurality of receive beamsin the second illumination direction (e.g., azimuth) by applying a phaseshift to the signals received from each respective receive antennaelement of the plurality of receive antenna elements 34. The receiveelectronics associated with receive array 20 then may process thephase-shifted signals as described below to produce phase-shifted andsummed in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q, e.g. 90 degrees out of phase)values for each row of receive antenna elements 34 in each respectivequadrant of quadrants 32. For example, when each row of receive antennaelements 34 in each respective quadrant of quadrants 32 (FIG. 3)includes twelve elements, the receive electronics associated withreceive array 20 may be configured to generate a single phase-shiftedand summed I value and a single phase-shifted and summed Q value foreach row of twelve receive antenna elements 34 each time the receivearray 20 is digitally sampled within the receive electronics. Thisprocess will be described in more detail below in relation to FIGS.11-16.

The receive electronics associated with receive array 20 also may beconfigured generate the plurality of receive beams 44 (as shown in FIGS.5 and 6) at predetermined first illumination direction (e.g., elevation)positions by applying a complex beam weight to the phase-shifted andsummed I and Q values for each row of each of quadrants 32. Thephase-shifted and summed I and Q values determined by the receiveelectronics for a single sample instance may be reused multiple times togenerate the corresponding number or receive beams 44 at respectiveelevation positions. For example, to generate twelve receive beams 44,the receive electronics associated with receive array 20 may applytwelve different complex beam weights to the phase-shifted and summed Iand Q values for each row of each of quadrants 32 in twelve separateoperations. The I and Q values may be stored in a memory location withinradar apparatus 10 and reused multiple times for additional analysis. Asone example, one or more data sets of I and Q values stored over aperiod of time may be used to generate a synthetic aperture radar (SAR)analysis of an area or sub-area in the vicinity of an aircraft.

The plurality of complex beam weights may correspond to the number ofreceive beams 44. The values for each of the plurality of complex beamweights may be selected to result in the plurality of receive beamsbeing generated at the respective predetermined elevation positions. Asshown in FIG. 2, in some examples, the elevation positions of theplurality of receive beams 44 may be selected to substantially fullycover (e.g., fully cover or nearly fully cover) the elevation extent ofthe predetermined area 48 which is to be illuminated. In some examples,the adjacent ones of the plurality of receive beams 44 may partiallyoverlap in elevation. In this way, the receive electronics associatedwith receive array 20 may generate a plurality of receive beams 44 atpredetermined first illumination direction (e.g., elevation) positionsand scan, or steer, the plurality of receive beams 44 in the secondillumination direction (e.g., azimuth). Complex beam weights and otherprocessing may be executed by processing circuitry included in thereceive electronics or an external processor controlling the receiveelectronics.

Examples of processing circuitry may include, any one or more of amicroprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmablegate array (FPGA), a system on chip (SoC) or equivalent discrete orintegrated logic circuitry. A processor may be integrated circuitry,i.e., integrated processing circuitry, and that the integratedprocessing circuitry may be realized as fixed hardware processingcircuitry, programmable processing circuitry and/or a combination ofboth fixed and programmable processing circuitry.

Additionally, because receive array 20 is conceptually (and, optionally,electrically) divided into quadrants 32, the receive electronicsassociated with receive array 20 may be configured to generate monopulsetracking beams. This may be used to facilitate tracking of objects byradar apparatus 10. By generating a transmit beam 42 and a plurality ofreceive beams 44, radar apparatus 10 may perform monopulse analysis foreach of receive beams 44, which may facilitate tracking multiple objectswithin predetermined area 48 (FIG. 6). For example, by digitallycombining the I and Q values for the two left quadrants 32 a and 32 ctogether, digitally combining the I and Q values for the two rightquadrants 32 b and 32 d, and determining the difference between I and Qvalues for the two left quadrants 32 a and 32 c and the I and Q valuesfor the two right quadrants 32 b and 32 d, the receive electronics maycreate an azimuth monopulse tracking receive beam. Similarly, in someexamples, by digitally combining the I and Q values for the top twoquadrants 32 a and 32 b, and digitally combining the I and Q values forthe bottom two quadrants 32 c and 32 d, and determining the differencebetween I and Q values for the two top quadrants 32 a and 32 b and the Iand Q values for the two bottom quadrants 32 c and 32 d, the receiveelectronics may create an elevation monopulse tracking receive beam. Insome examples, by digitally combining the I and Q values for respectiverows of all 4 quadrants 32, a reference sum beam may be created forcomparison to the azimuth and elevation monopulse tracking beams. Thismay permit an accurate phase comparison monopulse to be created for eachof receive beams 44. As FMCW radar array 12 is configured to generate atransmit beam 42 and a plurality of receive beams 44, which are scannedwithin a corresponding predetermined window, this may facilitatetracking of multiple objects by radar apparatus 10. In the example ofradar apparatus 10A, depicted in FIGS. 7A-8, radar apparatus 10A maytrack multiple targets within the approximately 360 degree FOR.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example radar device 11,including associated electronics. Radar device 11 includes an arraycontroller 66, which controls operation of radar device 11. Arraycontroller 66 is operably coupled to a master radio frequency (RF)source and clock 68. Array controller 66 may include one or moreprocessors, including one or more microprocessors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or any other equivalentintegrated or discrete logic circuitry, as well as any combinations ofsuch components. As described above, the term “processor” or “processingcircuitry” may generally refer to any of the foregoing logic circuitry,alone or in combination with other logic circuitry, or any otherequivalent circuitry. In some examples, radar device 11 may include amulti-processor system on chip (MPSoC) processor architecture. Someexamples of MPSoC processors provide both massively parallel processingto form multiple receive beams as well as include several reducedinstruction set (RISC) or similar processors that can provide post beamforming processing.

Master RF source and clock 68 generates a base RF signal, for example,at a frequency of about 13 GHz for Ku Band and other frequencies forother bands of operation. In some examples, master RF source and clock68 may include a fractional N synthesizer. Master RF source and clock 68is operably coupled to a power amplifier 70, which amplifies the base RFsignal and outputs the amplified base RF signal to a power divider 64.Power amplifier 70 may amplify the base RF signal to overcome reductionin power as the base RF signal is divided for use in each receive signaland transmit signal. Power divider 64 is operably coupled to a firstcorporate feed 62, which is associated with a transmit array 18 (FIG.10) and a second corporate feed 72, which is associated with a receivearray 20 (FIG. 10).

Transmit electronics 52 indicates electronics (e.g., power amplifier 54,image reject mixer (IRM) 56, direct digital synthesizer (DDS)-I 58, andDDS-Q 60) conceptually associated with a single transmit antenna element24, as shown in FIG. 10. In some examples, a DDS may provide 32-bitphase control for accurate beam steering. FIG. 11 illustratesconceptually the components present for a transmit signal being sent toa single transmit antenna element 24. As described with respect to FIGS.9 and 10, radar device 11 may include a plurality of transmit antennaelements 24. Radar device 11 thus may include a plurality of transmitantenna elements 24 and a plurality of transmit electronics 52 of FIG.11. As depicted in the example of FIG. 10, the plurality of transmitelements 24 are components of transmit array 18, which in turn is acomponent of FMCW radar array 12.

In some examples, equivalent functionality for a plurality of transmitsignals each being sent to a respective transmit antenna element 24 maybe embodied in a single physical component. For example, a single poweramplifier may include a plurality of channels, and each channel may beconnected to a respective transmit antenna element. Hence, when embodiedin a physical product, radar device 11 may include fewer components thanthose illustrated in FIG. 11, as functions of components may be combinedand/or a single component may perform a function described with respectto FIG. 11 for multiple signals being sent to respective transmitantenna elements 24 or receive antenna elements 34.

Similarly, though FIG. 11 depicts the transmit electronics and receiveelectronics as separate components, in some examples, some functions maybe combined into a single component. In some examples transmitelectronics and receive electronics may each include processingcircuitry, as defined above. In other examples, processing circuitry maybe external to transmit electronics, or to the receive electronics andthe processing circuitry may control the transmit electronics andreceive electronics as external components. In some examples, transmitelectronics, or other processing circuitry within radar device 11, maycontrol the motors within gimbaled mount 15 (e.g. as depicted in FIGS.1, 2, and 7A) to mechanically rotate radar device 11 and extend theelectronic scan angular range.

Array controller 66 is operably connected to respective inputs of DDS-I58 and DDS-Q 60, and instructs DDS-I 58 and DDS-Q 60 to generate a phaseshift applied to respective intermediate frequency signals. For example,the intermediate frequency may be on the order of tens of megahertz(MHz), such as about 16 MHz, about 32 MHz, or about 64 MHz. DDS-I 58 andDDS-Q 60 output the phase-shifted signals to IRM 56. IRM 56 receivesboth the phase-shifted signals from DDS-I 58 and DDS-Q 60 and the baseRF signal from first corporate feed 62. IRM 56 combines the base RFsignal and the phase shifted intermediate frequency signals from DDS-I58 and DDS-Q 60 to produce two phase shifted RF signals, which havefrequencies of the base RF signal plus and minus the intermediatefrequency, respectively. IRM 56 also attenuates one of the twophase-shifted RF signals and outputs the other of the two phase shiftedRF signals to the power amplifier 54. Power amplifier 54 amplifies thephase shifted RF signal and outputs the signal to transmit antennaelement 24.

As described above, the transmit beam 42 (FIGS. 3, 5-6) generated bytransmit antenna element 24 and the other transmit antenna elements 24in the transmit array 18 (FIG. 10) may be electronically steered byapplying a phase shift to the RF signal output by the transmit antennaelements 24, where the phase shift changes as a function of time. Asshown in FIG. 4, the phase shift is generated by DDS-I 58 and DDS-Q 60under control of array controller 66. Array controller 66 may linearlychange the phase shift generated by DDS-I 58 and DDS-Q 60 to linearlyscan the transmit beam 42 in azimuth (see e.g. FIGS. 3-6). Because thephase shift is generated at intermediate frequency rather than RF, thephase shift operation may be more efficient, and thus may utilizesmaller power amplifiers 54 compared to when the phase shift isimplemented at RF. DDS-I 58 and DDS-Q 60 also may provide linearfrequency modulation. In some examples, the phase shift applied by DDS-I58 and DDS-Q 60 may be changed at most once per frequency modulationperiod. In some examples, to cause the transmit beam to dwell at aparticular position, DDS-I 58 and DDS-Q may change the phase shift lessoften, e.g., after multiple frequency modulation periods having a givenphase shift.

Turning now to the receive portion of radar device 11, each of receiveantenna elements 34 is coupled to an analog receive electronics 74. FIG.4 illustrates conceptually the components present for a receive signalbeing received by a single receive antenna element 24. As described withrespect to FIG. 3, radar device 11 may include a plurality of receiveantenna elements 34. Although a single receive antenna element 34 and asingle analog receive electronics 74 are depicted in the example of FIG.4, in implementation, receive array 20 includes a plurality of receiveantenna elements 34 (FIG. 3). Radar device 11 thus may include aplurality of receive antenna elements 34 and a plurality of analogreceive electronics 74 or a single analog receive electronics configuredto perform the operations described with respect to analog receiveelectronics 74 on each of a plurality of receive signals.

However, in some examples, equivalent functionality for a plurality ofreceive signals each being sent to a respective receive antenna element34 may be embodied in a single physical component. Hence, when embodiedin a physical product, radar device 11 may include fewer components thanthose illustrated in FIG. 11, as functions of components may be combinedand/or a single component may perform a function described with respectto FIG. 11 for multiple signals being sent to respective receive antennaelements 34.

Analog receive electronics 74 receives the receive signal from receiveantenna elements 34 and also receives a base band signal from a secondcorporate feed 72. Receive electronics 74 combines the receive signaland the base band signal and outputs the combined signal to I and Qanalog to digital converter 76 (A/D converter 76).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example receive antennaelement 34 and an example of analog receive electronics 74. Receiveantenna element 34 in the example of FIG. 12 is like receive antennaelement 34 depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10. In the example illustrated inFIG. 12, analog receive electronics 74 includes a receiver mixer 92, alow noise amplifier (LNA) 94, a demodulator and phase shifter 110, Isumming operational amplifier 106, and Q summing operational amplifier108. For simplicity, this disclosure may refer to demodulator and phaseshifter 110 simply as demodulator 110 and may refer to I summingoperational amplifier 106 and Q summing operational amplifier 108 asoperational amplifiers 106 and 108. Receiver mixer 92 is operablycoupled to receive antenna element 34 and receives a signal directlyfrom receive antenna element 34, with no intervening amplifiers.Intervening amplifiers between receive antenna element 34 and receivermixer 92 may raise the noise floor of the receiver, due to use of FMCWradar and simultaneous transmit and receive. Receiver mixer 92 alsoreceives a signal from second corporate feed 72, which is at the RFfrequency (e.g., about 13 GHz). Because the RF signal output by DDS-I 58and DDS-Q 60 (FIG. 11) is offset from the RF frequency by theintermediate frequency (e.g., 16 MHz, 32 MHz, or 64 MHz), the signalreceived by receiver mixer 92 from receive antenna element 34 is offsetfrom the RF frequency signal from second corporate feed 72 by theintermediate frequency. Hence, the signal output from receiver mixer 92has a frequency of the intermediate frequency (e.g., 16 MHz, 32 MHz, or64 MHz). The FMCW radar systems described herein thus may be heterodyneFMCW radar systems, and the intermediate frequency at which the receivesignals are operated on (for at least part of the analog receiveelectronics 74) are created by heterodyning the signal received fromreceive antenna element 34 and the RF frequency signal from secondcorporate feed 72.

Receiver mixer 92 is operably coupled to a LNA 94, which amplifies theintermediate frequency signal received from receiver mixer 92 andoutputs the amplified signal to demodulator 110. Demodulator 110 splitsthe receive signal into I and Q components at block 96 and sends the Qand I signals to mixers 98 and 100, respectively. In the example of FIG.12, block 96 is a 90-degree hybrid power divider. At first mixer 98, theQ signal is down-converted to base band (e.g., between about 0 MHz andabout 2 MHz) by combining the Q signal with a reference clock signal109, which is derived from the second corporate feed 72 signal and mayhave a frequency that is an integer multiple of the intermediatefrequency. At second mixer 100, the I signal is down-converted to baseband (e.g., between about 0 MHz and about 2 MHz) by combining the Isignal with reference clock signal 109. First mixer 98 is operativelycoupled to a first phase shifter 102, which shifts the phase of the Qsignal to steer the receive beams in azimuth. Second mixer 100 isoperatively coupled to a second phase shifter 104, which shifts thephase of the I signal to steer the receive beams in azimuth.

As shown in FIG. 12, the phase-shifted I signal and the phase-shifter Qsignal are output to respective summing operational amplifiers 106 and108 (e.g., active filter summing operational amplifiers 106 and 108).Although not shown in FIG. 12 (see FIG. 13), first summing operationamplifier 106 may receive phase-shifted I signals corresponding to allreceive antenna elements 34 in a row of one of quadrants 32 (FIGS. 9 and10). For each row in each of quadrants 32, a first summing operationamplifier 106 sums the I signals for the respective receive antennaelements 34 in the row of the quadrant. Similarly, second summingoperation amplifier 108 may receive phase-shifted Q signalscorresponding to all receive antenna elements 34 in a row of one ofquadrants 32 (FIGS. 9 and 10). For each row in each of quadrants, asecond summing operation amplifier 108 sums the Q signals for therespective receive antenna elements 34 in the row of the quadrant. Thesumming operation amplifiers 106 and 108 output the summed I and Qsignals for each row elements 34 of each of quadrants 32 to A/Dconverter 76. In some examples, in addition to summing the I and Qsignals, respectively, summing operation amplifiers 106 and 108 mayapply a high pass filter, a low pass filter, or both, to shape the I andQ signals. The gain slopes for the optional high pass filter may beselected based on the application of the FMCW radar system. As examples,for weather detection, the high pass filter slope may be about 20 dB peroctave; for ground imaging, the high pass filter slope may be about 30dB per octave; for airborne target detection, the high pass filter slopemay be about 40 dB per octave; or the like. In some examples, the highpass filter compensates for propagation losses in space and the low passfilter acts as an anti-alias filter.

The radar apparatus, according to the techniques of this disclosure mayhave advantages when compared to existing radar systems. As describedabove, all electronic steering of the transmitter and receiver aperturesoccurs at low intermediate frequencies using a combination of digitaland analog methods. There are no microwave phase shifters, attenuatorsor traditional T/R (transmit/receive) modules found in the radar device11. In some examples, radar device 11 is based on planar constructionwith printed antenna elements on one side of a standard printed circuitboard and active transmit and receive electronics directly integratedwith the elements on the back side of the circuit board. As a result,the structure avoids the packaging cost and complexity commonly seen inT/R module base arrays.

Transmitter beam steering is accomplished via the word phase shiftstructure of a Direct Digital Synthesizer at each of the transmitterelements. Receiver aperture beam steering is accomplished via digitalcomplex weight values applied in the receiver MPSoC digital beam former.In this manner, digital samples collected just one set of receiverelectronics can be reused numerous times in digital processing hardwareto create as many “digital beams” as desired with the lowest possiblecost, size, and weight and power dissipation. There is no complex RFbeamforming network and the number of possible receive beams istechnically limited only by processing power.

FIG. 13 illustrates another example block diagram of a portion of theanalog receive electronics for a row of a receive array 20 (FIGS. 9-10).As shown in FIG. 13, a row of receive array 20, with quadrants 32 a-32 d(FIG. 10) includes a plurality of receive antenna elements 34 a-341(collectively, “receive antenna elements 34”). Although twelve receiveantenna elements 34 are illustrated in FIG. 13, in other examples, a rowof a receive array 20 may include more or fewer receive antenna elements34. In general, a row of receive array 20 may include a plurality ofreceive antenna elements.

Each of receive antenna elements 34 is operably connected to arespective receiver mixer of the plurality of receiver mixers 92 a-921(collectively, “receiver mixers 92”). As described with respect to FIG.12, each of receiver mixers 92 may also receive an RF signal from secondcorporate feed 72, although this is not shown in FIG. 13. Althoughtwelve receiver mixers 92 are illustrated in FIG. 13, in other examples,analog receive electronics 74 may include more or fewer receiver mixers92. In some examples, analog receive electronics 74 may include arespective receiver mixer 92 for each receive antenna element of receiveantenna elements 34. Each of receiver mixers 92 is operably connected toa respective channel of one of LNAs 94 a-94 c (collectively, “LNAs 94”).For example, receive electronics 74 may be a quad (4×) device with foursets of elements. In other words, a quad device may include four LNAs94, four demodulators 110 and sixteen receiver mixers 92.

LNAs 94 amplify the receive signal and are operably coupled to arespective channel of one of demodulators 110 a-110 c (collectively,“demodulators 110”). Similar to FIG. 5, demodulators 110 in FIG. 13 mayalso include phase shift function. Although three LNAs 94 each with fourchannels are illustrated in FIG. 13, in other examples, each of LNAs 94may include more or fewer channels, and there may be more or fewer LNAs94 for a row of receive antenna elements 34. Similarly, although threedemodulators 110 each with four channels are illustrated in FIG. 13, inother examples, each of demodulators 110 may include more or fewerchannels, and there may be more or fewer demodulators 110 for a row ofreceive antenna elements 34. As described above in relation to FIG. 5,quadrature mixers 110 may down-convert the receive signal to base band,separate the receive signal into I and Q components, apply a phase shiftto the I and Q components, and output the phase-shifted I and Q signals.An example of demodulator 110 may include the AD8339 demodulator andphase shifter from Analog Devices.

As shown in FIG. 13, quadrature mixers 110 may output the phase-shiftedI signals to a first summing operational amplifier 106, which sums allthe phase-shifted I signals to yield a summed I signal for the row.Similarly, quadrature mixers 110 may output the phase-shifted Q signalsto a second summing operational amplifier 108, which sums all thephase-shifted Q signals to yield a summed Q signal for the row. Firstsumming operation amplifier 106 outputs the summed I signal to/A/Dconverter 76, and second summing operation amplifier 108 outputs thesummed Q signal to analog-to-digital converter 76. Receive array 20 mayinclude components that perform substantially similar functions for eachrow of receive antenna elements 34 in each quadrant 32 of the receivearray 20.

Referring to FIG. 11, analog-to-digital converter 76 outputs the digitaldata streams for the summed I and Q values to a digital receiveelectronics 78. Digital receive electronics 78 may be configured togenerate a plurality of receive beams from the digital data streams forthe summed I and Q values received from A/D converter 76.

Radar apparatus 10 may control the receive beam width by electronicallyturning off or ignoring the input from any receive antenna element 34 ina row. Though a receive antenna element, such as receive antenna element34 a, may still receive the return receive signal, radar apparatus 10may not include the output from receive antenna element 34 a duringsignal processing, in some examples. Controlling the beam width mayprovide guard channel to reject azimuth sidelobes and reject groundclutter detected in these sidelobes.

In some examples, each row is uniformly illuminated and produces firstsidelobes, which may be compensated initially, such as by applying theTaylor Taper to the transmit array for low sidelobe illumination. Eachreceive row may be amplitude weighted to achieve any desired elevationbeamwidth greater than the lowest possible beamwidth by applyingappropriate complex weights to the row outputs. This may provide a guardchannel to reject elevation sidelobes and reject ground clutter detectedin these sidelobes. This guard channel may be computed in parallel withthe full gain and minimum beamwidth of the full receive array. In someexamples, the receive array may be steered in elevation using complexweights, which may be applied in the MPSoC processor. The MPSoCprocessor may divide the receive array into two or more sub-aperturesthat may be used to provide elevation monopulse angle measurement orother functions.

FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate example aspects of an example digital receiveelectronics 78 as described above in relation to FIG. 11. FIG. 14 is afunctional block diagram illustrating example functions of A/Dconverters 76 a-761 (collectively A/D converters 76) and portions of adigital receive electronics 78 for a quadrant 32 of a receive array 20,as depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 15 is a functional block diagramillustrating example functions for producing a plurality of receivebeams from signals received from a respective receive electronics 74 foreach quadrant 32 of a receive array 20.

As shown in FIG. 14, a plurality of analog receive electronics 74 a-741each outputs a respective summed I signal and a respective summed Qsignal to a respective one of A/D converters 76. In the example of FIG.14, twelve analog receive electronics 74 and twelve A/D converters 76are depicted. However, in other examples, a quadrant 32 may include moreor fewer rows of receive antenna elements 34, and may accordinglyinclude more or fewer analog receive electronics 74. In some examples, areceive array 20 includes an analog receive electronics 74 for each rowof each of quadrants 32. Similarly, a receive array 20 may include moreor fewer A/D converters, and the number of analog-to-digital convertersfor a quadrant 32 may be the same as or different than the number ofrows of receive antenna elements 34 in the quadrant 32.

Each of the A/D 76 converts an analog summed I signal to a digital Idata stream and an analog summed Q signal to a digital Q data stream.Digital receive electronics 78 then may apply a complex beam weight 112to the digital I data streams and digital Q data streams and sum 114 theresults to generate a weighted I data stream and a weighted Q datastream 116 for the quadrant. The complex beam weight may be selected toresult in weighted I and Q data streams 116 being generated that can beused by digital receive electronics 78 to generate a receive beam at apredetermined elevation position, as described with reference to FIGS. 5and 6. The number of complex beam weights 112 may be the same as thenumber of receive beam positions.

In some examples, digital receive electronics 78 may reuse the digital Idata streams and the digital Q data streams by applying a differentcomplex beam weight 112 to the digital I signals and the digital Q datastreams to generate each of a plurality of weighted I and Q data streams116. Each of the plurality of complex beam weights 112 may be selectedto result in a respective weighted I and Q data stream being generatedthat is used to form a receive beam at a predetermined elevationposition. The complex beam weights 112 may apply both amplitude taperand elevation beam steering to the digital I data streams and thedigital Q data streams. The result of the applying the complex beamweights 112 is a plurality of weighted I data streams and a plurality ofweighted Q data streams 116, one weighted I data stream and one weightedQ data stream 116 for each of the complex beam weights 112. Hence, eachof quadrants 32 forms a plurality of weighted I data streams and aplurality of weighted Q data streams 116, one data stream in I and Q foreach of the receive beam positions. To facilitate formation of themonopulse tracking beams, the number of weighted I data streams andweighted Q data streams 116 output by each of quadrants 32 may be thesame.

As shown in FIG. 15, the output weighted I data streams and weighted Qdata streams 116 are used by the digital receive electronics 78 (FIG.11) to form monopulse tracking beams at each receive beam position (seee.g. FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 15, each of quadrants 32 outputs arespective plurality of weighted I data streams and plurality ofweighted Q data streams 116 a-116 d (collectively, “plurality ofweighted I data streams and plurality of weighted Q data streams 116”).The number of weighted I data streams and the number of weighted Q datastreams 116 for each of quadrants 32 corresponds to the number ofreceive beam positions.

Digital receive electronics 78 sums the first weighted I data streamfrom the first quadrant 32 a and the first weighted I data stream fromsecond quadrant 32 b (the top two quadrants) to form a first top I datastream. Each of the first weighted I data streams may correspond to thesame (a first) receive beam position. Similarly, digital receiveelectronics 78 sums the first weighted Q data stream from the firstquadrant 32 a and the first weighted Q data stream from second quadrant32 b to form a first top Q data stream. Each of the first weighted Qdata streams may correspond to the same (the first) receive beamposition. Digital receive electronics 78 repeats this summation for eachof the plurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality ofweighted Q data streams 116 a from first quadrant 32 a and each of theplurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality of weighted Qdata streams 116 b from second quadrant 32 b. This results in aplurality of top I data streams and a plurality of top Q data streams124, with the number of top I data streams and the number of top Q datastreams 124 corresponding to the number of receive beam positions. Asdescribed in relation to FIG. 13, some examples may include more orfewer data streams than the three depicted in FIG. 15.

Similarly, digital receive electronics 78 sums the first weighted I datastream from the first quadrant 32 a and the first weighted I data streamfrom third quadrant 32 c (the left two quadrants) to form a first left Idata stream. Each of the first weighted I data streams may correspond tothe same (a first) receive beam position. Similarly, digital receiveelectronics 78 sums the first weighted Q data stream from the firstquadrant 32 a and the first weighted Q data stream from third quadrant32 c to form a first left Q data stream. Each of the first weighted Qdata streams may correspond to the same (the first) receive beamposition. Digital receive electronics 78 repeats this summation for eachof the plurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality ofweighted Q data streams 116 a from first quadrant 32 a and each of theplurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality of weighted Qdata streams 116 c from third quadrant 32 c. This results in a pluralityof left I data streams and a plurality of left Q data streams 122, withthe number of left I data streams and the number of left Q data streams122 corresponding to the number of receive beam positions.

Digital receive electronics 78 performs this process for each for eachof the plurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality ofweighted Q data streams 116 c from third quadrant 32 c and each of theplurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality of weighted Qdata streams 116 d from fourth quadrant 32 d to form a plurality ofbottom I data streams and a plurality of bottom Q data streams 128.Digital receive electronics 78 also performs this process for each foreach of the plurality of weighted I data streams and each of pluralityof weighted Q data streams 116 b from second quadrant 32 b and each ofthe plurality of weighted I data streams and each of plurality ofweighted Q data streams 116 d from fourth quadrant 32 d to form aplurality of right I data streams and a plurality of right Q datastreams 126.

Digital receive electronics 78 performs monopulse arithmetic 130 usingthe plurality of I and Q data streams 122, 124, 126, and 128 to form amonopulse sum beam, a monopulse azimuth delta beam, and a monopulseelevation delta beam for each of the receive beam positions. Forexample, by summing each of the first I data streams and each of thefirst Q data streams, digital receive electronics 78 may form amonopulse sum beam for the first receive beam position. By subtractingthe first right I and Q data streams from the first left I and Q datastreams, digital receive electronics 78 may form a monopulse azimuthdelta beam for the first receive beam position. By subtracting the firstbottom I and Q data streams from the first top I and Q data streams,digital receive electronics 78 may form a monopulse elevation delta beamfor the first receive beam position. Digital receive electronics 78 mayperform similar calculations to form a monopulse sum beam, a monopulseazimuth delta beam, and a monopulse elevation delta beam at each receivebeam position using respective ones of the plurality of left, top,right, and bottom I and Q data streams 122, 124, 126, and 128.

After digital receive electronics 78 has formed each of the plurality ofmonopulse sum beams, each of the plurality of monopulse azimuth deltabeams, and each of the plurality of monopulse elevation delta beams (oneof each beam for each receive beam position), digital receiveelectronics 78 applies a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to each respectivebeam to transform the beam from the frequency domain to the rangedomain. In some examples, the FFT generates 2048 FFT bins, each bincorresponding to a range bin of about 24 feet (about 8 meters). In someexamples, an FMCW radar device, in accordance with the techniques ofthis disclosure may form up to 36 simultaneous receive beams, where somereceive beams are monopulse beams. The monopulse beams may allowmonopulse beam tracking of objects in the predetermined area 48 (FIG.6).

In some examples, the receive electronics 80 (FIG. 11), which mayinclude analog receive electronics 74, A/D 76, and digital receiveelectronics 78, may steer the receive beams in azimuth by applying aphase shift to the receive signals from each of receive antenna elements34 using analog receive electronics 74. Analog receive electronics 74may sequentially apply different phase shifts to the receive signalsfrom each of receive antenna elements 34 to steer the receive beams inazimuth. At each azimuth position, digital receive electronics 78 maygenerate the plurality of receive beams (including monopulse sum,azimuth delta, and elevation delta beams at each receive beam position).In some examples, the elevation position of each of the receive beamsmay not change as the receive beams are scanned in azimuth. In otherwords, in some examples, digital receive electronics 78 applies the sameset of complex beam weights to the I digital steams and Q digitalstreams at least of the azimuth positions. The output of the digitalreceive electronics 78 may be used by the radar system for targetselection and tracking.

By performing most manipulations of the receive signals at basebandfrequencies rather than RF and summing the I and Q signals for each rowin a quadrant before digitally forming the plurality of receive beams,component count may be reduced and power efficiency may be increased.Additionally or alternatively, less complex and/or inefficient phaseshifters may be used compared to when phase shifting is performed at RF.In some examples, this may reduce or substantially eliminate receiverlosses and may not utilize receiver amplifiers with their attendantpower dissipation, circuit board space, and cost. In some examples,receive array 20 does include a respective low noise amplifier (LNA)between a respective receive antenna element 34 and a respectivereceiver mixer 92. If present between the respective receive antennaelement 34 and the respective receiver mixer 92, the LNA may reducetransmit array-to-receive array isolation and the LNA may be saturatedby nearby transmit array leakage power. By avoiding LNAs at everyreceive antenna element, the parts count of receive array 20 may bereduced, which may improve cost, power dissipation, and/or reliabilityof receive array 20. Additionally, the formation of multiple receivebeams and monopulse tracking beams at each receive beam position mayfacilitate object tracking by the radar system.

In operation, the receive signals from each element and row may bestored as a data set and reused for several different modes. In otherwords, the same receive signal at a particular row or element receivedat first time may be stored as a data set. The stored data set may becombined with other data sets from other rows received at the same or adifferent time to perform a variety of different analyses in a varietyof modes. All modes may be used individually or in combination with anyother mode or set of modes according to flight phase of aircraft 2, orthe operation of another type of vehicle. Modes may be interleaved toprovide the greatest benefit to the vehicle operator. Modes may be usedwith “Chaotic Beam Steering,” e.g. non-linear or random scans asrequired to achieve the functions of each mode. Some example modes aswell as features and advantages of modes are listed in the table below.

TABLE 1 Examples Radar Modes Mode Example features Standard WeatherRadar Mode 3 Seconds, >90 Degrees AZ Weather Detection to 320 NMiTurbulence Detection to >=40 Nmi Lightning Detection Inference TerrainAvoidance and Uses multiple beams to track Terrain Following Modeterrain level Helicopter Application Provide Ground Collision Warning inGPS Denied Conditions or prevent collisions with new obstacles not inthe EGPWS database Can alert need to update the database EnhancedWeather Mode Improved HAIC Detection Potential Volcanic Eruption and AshDetection Enhanced Storm Cell Detail and Cell growth or decay NavigationMode Runway Detection, Runway Approach Lights, Runway Intrusiondetection Runway alignment, glide slope measurement enhanced withMonopulse Angle measurement Taxi Collision Avoidance Mode Taxi in CATIII conditions to avoid all moving or stationary obstacles UAV CollisionAvoidance Mode On approach or take off Bird Flock Detection Mode Onapproach or take off Approach Mode Runway detection Intrusion DetectionPWS Detection Weather Detection Enhanced PWS Mode Sidelobe ClutterRejection via Guard Beam False PWS alert prevention without runwaydatabase Electronic Beam Pointing Accelerometers on DAPA provideStabilization motion feedback to processor Synthetic Vision Mode FineRange resolution images enhanced with monopulse angle measurementWaveform Flexibility DAPA provides any desired sequence of Linear FM,Fixed Frequency CW or Stepped Frequency CW DAPA provides any combinationof Linear FM slopes (+/−/0) DAPA allows beam pointing to be updatedevery waveform or after multiple waveforms have been transmitted FMCWMode Allows fine range resolution and short range detection capabilityAllows the potential for SVS enhancements

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operation of amulti-function electronically and mechanically steered weather radar.The steps depicted in FIG. 11 will be described in relation to FIGS. 1,3 and 6, unless otherwise noted.

The multi-function electronically steered weather radar, such as radardevice 11, may electronically steer a transmit beam 42 by controlling atransmit array 18, which includes a plurality of transmit antennaelements 24 to output an FMCW transmit beam (200). The plurality oftransmit antenna elements 24 may be arranged such that a number oftransmit antenna elements in a first transmit array dimension is greaterthan a number of transmit antenna elements in a second transmit arraydimension substantially perpendicular to the first transmit arraydimension. The FMCW transmit beam 42 illuminates an area with a greaterextent in a first illumination direction 45 than in a secondillumination direction 46 substantially perpendicular to the firstillumination direction. The transmit array may be controlled, forexample, by array controller 66.

Array controller 66, or some other component of radar device 11 maycontrol the transmit electronics to electronically scan the FMCWtransmit beam 42 in the second illumination direction 46 (202), depictedin FIGS. 3 and 6. Beam steering may be controlled by a phase shiftimplemented by I and Q DDS pairs at each array column of two transmitantenna elements 24.

Radar device 11 may control receive electronics 80 to receive aplurality of receive signals from receive array 20 comprising aplurality of receive antenna elements 34 (204). Receive antenna elements34 may be arranged in quadrants 32 (see FIGS. 10 and 15).

Radar device 11, or a radar display and control unit as described abovein relation to FIG. 2, may control gimbaled mount 15 to mechanicallyscan/rotate transmit array 18 and receive array 20 of radar device 11from a first position to a second position (205). Gimbaled mount 15 mayreceive a position signal from radar device 11, the radar control anddisplay unit, or some other component of a radar system of which radarapparatus 10 is a part. In response to the position signal, gimbaledmount 15 may aim radar device 11 to the predetermined position.

As described above, rotating radar device 11 in the second illuminationdirection extends the angular range of FMCW transmit beam 42. Similarly,as described above in relation to FIGS. 7A-8, rotating multiple radardevices supported on a single gimbaled mount 15A extends the angularrange of the radar transmit beams 42A-42B of each radar device. Gimbaledmount 15, or 15A, may pause at a predetermined position of a pluralityof predetermined position while radar device 11 executes an electronicscan of FMCW transmit beam 42, as described above in relation to FIG. 4.In some examples, radar device 11 may execute an electronic scan of FMCWtransmit beam 42 over the entire electronic angular range 242 at a givenpredetermined mechanical position. In other examples, radar device 11may cause radar transmit beam 42 to dwell on a portion of the FOR togather additional information on that portion. In some examples, radardevice 11 may change the parameters of FMCW transmit beam 42 asdescribed above in relation to FIG. 6, such as to confirm HAICdetection.

Radar device 11 may further control receive electronics 80 toelectronically generate and scan in the second illumination direction 46a plurality of receive beams 44 such that the scanning of each receivebeam 44 is coordinated with the scanning of the FMCW transmit beam 42.In this manner, the plurality of receive beams 44 are within the areailluminated by the FMCW transmit beam 42 throughout the scanning of theFMCW transmit beam 42 and the plurality of receive beams 44 in thesecond illumination direction 46 (206). Receive electronics 80associated with receive array 20 may generate the beams by processingthe phase-shifted signals as described above to produce phase-shiftedand summed I and Q values for each row of receive antenna elements 34 ineach respective quadrant of quadrants 32.

Processing circuitry within radar device 11, such as an MPSoC describedabove, may determine one or more characteristics of a sub-area of aplurality of sub-areas of the area illuminated by the FMCW transmit beam42 (208). The sub-area of the plurality of sub-areas is within a receivebeam, e.g. 44D, of the plurality of receive beams 44. Some examples ofcharacteristics may include collision avoidance or navigationcharacteristics such as range, bearing, speed, tracking and sizecharacteristics of an object such as a UAV or a series of runway lights.Other examples may include reflectivity characteristics of weatherwithin the field of regard of radar device 11.

In one or more examples, the functions described above may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.For example, the various components of FIG. 4, such as receiverelectronics 80 and controller and master RF clock 68 may be implementedin hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmittedover, as one or more instructions or code, a computer-readable mediumand executed by a hardware-based processing unit. Computer-readablemedia may include computer-readable storage media, which corresponds toa tangible medium such as data storage media, or communication mediaincluding any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer programfrom one place to another, e.g., according to a communication protocol.In this manner, computer-readable media generally may correspond to (1)tangible computer-readable storage media which is non-transitory or (2)a communication medium such as a signal or carrier wave. Data storagemedia may be any available media that can be accessed by one or morecomputers or one or more processors to retrieve instructions, codeand/or data structures for implementation of the techniques described inthis disclosure. A computer program product may include acomputer-readable medium.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable storagemedia may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, flashmemory, or any other medium described further below that can be used tostore desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, ifinstructions are transmitted from a website, server, or other remotesource using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. It should be understood, however,that computer-readable storage media and data storage media do notinclude connections, carrier waves, signals, or other transient media,but are instead directed to non-transient, tangible storage media. Diskand disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-raydisc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discsreproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above shouldalso be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Instructions may be executed by one or more processors, such as one ormore DSPs, general purpose microprocessors, ASICs, FPGAs, or otherequivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. Accordingly, the term“processor,” as used herein, such as array controller 66, may refer toany of the foregoing structure or any other structure suitable forimplementation of the techniques described herein. In addition, in someaspects, the functionality described herein may be provided withindedicated hardware and/or software modules configured for encoding anddecoding, or incorporated in a combined codec. Also, the techniquescould be fully implemented in one or more circuits or logic elements.

The techniques of this disclosure may be implemented in a wide varietyof devices or apparatuses, including a wireless handset, an integratedcircuit (IC) or a set of ICs (e.g., a chip set). Various components,modules, or units are described in this disclosure to emphasizefunctional aspects of devices configured to perform the disclosedtechniques, but do not necessarily require realization by differenthardware units. Rather, as described above, various units may becombined in a hardware unit or provided by a collection ofinteroperative hardware units, including one or more processors asdescribed above, in conjunction with suitable software and/or firmware.

The techniques described in this disclosure may also be embodied orencoded in an article of manufacture including a computer-readablestorage medium encoded with instructions. Instructions embedded orencoded in an article of manufacture including a computer-readablestorage medium encoded, may cause one or more programmable processors,or other processors, to implement one or more of the techniquesdescribed herein, such as when instructions included or encoded in thecomputer-readable storage medium are executed by the one or moreprocessors. Computer readable storage media may include random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory(PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electronicallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, a harddisk, a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a floppy disk, a cassette, magneticmedia, optical media, or other computer readable media. In someexamples, an article of manufacture may include one or morecomputer-readable storage media.

In some examples, a computer-readable storage medium may include anon-transitory medium. The term “non-transitory” may indicate that thestorage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or a propagated signal.In certain examples, a non-transitory storage medium may store data thatcan, over time, change (e.g., in RAM or cache).

Various examples of the disclosure have been described. These and otherexamples are within the scope of the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A radio frequency (RF) apparatus, theapparatus comprising: an RF device configured to transmit and receive RFsignals, the RF device comprising: a transmit array comprising aplurality of transmit antenna elements, wherein the transmit array isconfigured to output an RF transmit beam that illuminates an area with agreater extent in a first illumination direction than in a secondillumination direction, wherein the second illumination direction issubstantially perpendicular to the first illumination direction;transmit electronics operable to electronically scan the RF transmitbeam in the second illumination direction; a receive array comprising aplurality of RF receive antenna elements; and receive electronicsoperable to: receive a plurality of RF receive signals, apply a phaseshift to one or more RF receive signals of the plurality of RF receivesignals; and generate a plurality of receive beams, within the receiveelectronics, based on applying complex beam weights to the phase shiftedone or more RF receive signals; and a gimbaled mount, comprising: amounting portion and a rotatable housing; a cable comprising a pluralityof conductors configured to electrically connect the radar device to themounting portion; wherein the gimbaled mount is configured to: supportthe RF device; receive a position signal; mechanically aim the RF devicethrough a mechanical range in the second illumination direction inresponse to the position signal; and maintain a beam shape for the RFtransmit beam and maintain transmit array gain through the mechanicalrange.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gimbaled mount isconfigured to mechanically rotate the RF device in the secondillumination direction.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, the apparatusfurther comprising a coiled cable, the coiled cable comprising aplurality of conductors, wherein the coiled cable is configured toelectrically connect the RF device to the mounting portion.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the coiled cable further carries theposition signal that causes the gimbaled mount to aim the RF device byrotating in the second illumination direction.
 5. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the RF device is configured to electronically scan the RFtransmit beam in the second illumination direction when the gimbaledmount is mechanically stationary at a predetermined position of aplurality of predetermined positions.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the RF device is a first RF device, the apparatus furthercomprising, a second RF device, wherein the gimbaled mount is furtherconfigured to support the second RF device, wherein the second RFdevice: is substantially parallel to the first RF device, a transmitarray of the second RF device faces in a substantially oppositedirection from the transmit array of the first RF device, a receivearray of the second RF device faces in a substantially oppositedirection from the receive array of the first RF device.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the gimbaled mount is configured tomechanically scan the first RF device and the second RF device in thesecond illumination direction.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein afield of regard of the apparatus is substantially 360 degrees in thesecond illumination direction, wherein the field of regard of theapparatus comprises a first predetermined area illuminated by the firstRF device and a second predetermined area illuminated by the second RFdevice.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the second illuminationdirection is an azimuth in a horizontal direction, the area illuminatedby the RF transmit beam is a first area at a first azimuth relative tothe transmit array, a second area illuminated by the RF transmit beam isat a second azimuth relative to the transmit array.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the receive electronics is further operable to:generate, based on the plurality of RF receive signals, a plurality ofreceive beams within the receive electronics; and electronically scaneach receive beam of the plurality of receive beams such that thescanning of each receive beam is coordinated with scanning the areailluminated by the FMCW transmit beam.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the RF transmit beam and the RF receive signals are in themicrowave frequency range.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theaspect ratio between the first illumination direction and the secondillumination direction is at least ten-to-one.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein a horizontal beamwidth of the RF transmit beam is lessthan eight degrees in azimuth and a vertical beamwidth of the RFtransmit beam is at least 60 degrees in elevation.
 14. A methodcomprising: controlling, by processing circuitry, a transmit arraycomprising a plurality of transmit antenna elements to output afrequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) transmit beam, wherein theplurality of transmit antenna elements are arranged such that a numberof transmit antenna elements in a first transmit array dimension isgreater than a number of transmit antenna elements in a second transmitarray dimension substantially perpendicular to the first transmit arraydimension, and wherein the FMCW transmit beam illuminates an area with agreater extent in a first illumination direction than in a secondillumination direction substantially perpendicular to the firstillumination direction; controlling, by processing circuitry, transmitelectronics to electronically scan the FMCW transmit beam in the secondillumination direction; controlling, by processing circuitry, receiveelectronics to receive a plurality of receive signals from a receivearray comprising a plurality of receive antenna elements; andcontrolling, by processing circuitry, a gimbaled mount to mechanicallyrotate the transmit array and the receive array from a first position toa second position in the second illumination direction, wherein: thegimbaled mount comprises a mounting portion and a rotatable housing, thefirst position and the second position are within a mechanical range ofthe gimbaled mount, and the FMCW transmit beam maintains a beam shapefor the FMCW transmit beam through the mechanical range; controlling, byprocessing circuitry, the receive electronics to electronically scan aplurality of receive beams such that the scanning of each receive beamis coordinated with the scanning of the area illuminated by the FMCWtransmit beam; and determining, by processing circuitry, one or morecharacteristics of a sub-area of a plurality of sub-areas of the areailluminated by the FMCW transmit beam, wherein the sub-area of theplurality of sub-areas is within a receive beam of the plurality ofreceive beams.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein: the receive array iselectrically divided into quadrants, each quadrant comprising aplurality of receive antenna elements arranged in a plurality of rows,each row of the plurality of rows comprising a plurality of receiveantenna elements; the method comprises: controlling, by processingcircuitry, the receive electronics to digitally sample a firstrespective row of the plurality of rows of the plurality of receiveelements separately from the remaining respective rows of the pluralityof rows; controlling, by processing circuitry, the receive electronicsto store a first data set comprising digital samples of the firstrespective row at a first time; controlling, by processing circuitry,the receive electronics to combine the first data set with at least asecond data set to form a monopulse receive beam, wherein the seconddata set comprises digital samples of a second respective row at thefirst time; control the receive electronics to determine one or morecharacteristics of a sub-area within the monopulse receive beam.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the receive electronics are furtheroperable to process the phase-shifted one or more RF receive signals toproduce phase-shifted and summed in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) valuesbased on specified a row of RF receive antenna elements of the pluralityof RF receive antenna elements.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, whereinthe receive electronics are configured to: store at a memory locationoperatively coupled to the receive electronics, the phase-shifted andsummed I and Q values determined by the receive electronics for a singlesample instance; reuse the stored values multiple times to generate acorresponding number of receive beams 44 at respective elevationpositions for additional analysis.